Illuminae by by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees

★★★★★ (4.75)

Genre – Young Adult Science Fiction
Summary – The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and
Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – This book is so cool. Honestly, so cool. It’s formatted out of hacked documents, emails, IMs, interviews, and so much more and it’s so interesting to read.
Plot – ★★★★☆ The book took a little bit for me to get into, mostly because the format made it difficult to connect with the characters. But once I got into the story about fifty pages in, I read it all day.
Characters – ★★★★★ I loved all of the characters so much. Every single one, even the bad guys. The authors have created all the characters perfectly so that you relate to every single one.
Storyworld – ★★★★★ The authors had every part of this storyworld planned out. They designed their own spaceships, after all. 
Style – ★★★★★ I loved, loved, loved the style of this book. The way it was put together was genius.
Closing Thoughts – Go read this book. Now.

(summary and cover from GoodReads)

 

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees

★★★☆☆ (2.50)

Genre – Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Summary – Thirteen-year-old Stewart is academically brilliant but socially clueless.
Fourteen-year-old Ashley is the undisputed “It” girl in her class, but her grades stink. Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom.(Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – This book might have been okay. Sure, the premise was a little cliche, but it just might of worked. Of course, it didn’t.
Plot – ★★★★☆ Since this book seemed to follow a lot of the cliches, it was pretty predictable. However, I did appreciate the stance it took on some serious issues such as sexual identity and sexual assault.
Characters – ★★☆☆☆ Ashley is a complete brat, which is fine–please give me your imperfect characters–except that she had no character arc whatsoever. She stayed a brat all the way through the end. Steward however had a miniscule character arc, though not much.
Storyworld – ★★★☆☆ The storyworld was okay. Nothing great, nothing horrible.
Style – ★☆☆☆☆ –  This is what really bothered me about this book. Though the characters were both supposed to be thirteen and fourteen, they both sounded about ten years old. The style fit middle grade, but some of the themes were more young adult.
Closing Thoughts -This book could have been greatly approved if the characters were written as their age.

(summary and cover from GoodReads)

 

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees

★★★☆☆ (2.50)
Genre – Young Adult Science Fiction
Summary – Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – I was attracted to the intriguing cover of this book and a promise of interesting science fiction in the blurb. However, I wish I had just stopped reading there.
Plot – ★★★☆☆ Predictable. It had a few good parts, but nothing amazing.
Characters – ★★☆☆☆ Nothing about the characters stood out to me. The only one who made a slight impression was a side character, but it wasn’t much.
Storyworld – ★★★☆☆ The storyworld at the start of the book promises of haunting apocalyptic scenes. However, it dies out halfway through the narrative, leaving you behind in a half-described city.
Style – ★★☆☆☆ –  A lot of the writing, especially the dialogue, felt very forced. Not necessarily bad, just not amazing.
Closing Thoughts – I wouldn’t recommend this anytime soon. It left me very unimpressed.

(summary and cover from GoodReads)

 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees

★★★★★ (5.00)
Summary – Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – Whenever otherworldly creatures start getting involved, I get worried. Because it’s too easy to use the supernatural to attempt to spice up a poorly written romance. But when it comes Daughter of Smoke and Bone, there is absolutely nothing to be a
fraid of.
Plot – ★★★★★ Taylor masterfully keeps information hidden for big reveals and twists.
Characters – ★★★★★ Blue hair, tattoos, and naturally badass, Karou is the perfect protagonist. Not to mention, all of the side characters have the right amount of flaws and quirks to make them completely lovable.
Storyworld – ★★★★★ Daughter of Smoke and Bone is set in two worlds: the enchanting streets of Prague and the haunted world of the chimera and seraph. Both worlds captivated me and added so much to the story.
Style/Theme – ★★★★★ The style. Oh, the style. Laini Taylor is the master of metaphorical perfection. I could go on about her writing style for days.  But I only have 60 seconds so…
Closing Thoughts – You. Have. To. Read. This.

(summary and cover from GoodReads)

Half-Bad by Sally Green

A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees

★★★★★ (4.75)
Summary – In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world’s most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan’s only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers—before it’s too late. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – I was worried that this book would be too similar to Harry Potter since it was based around witches, but there were very little similarities. Sally Green has perfectly written Half-Bad to capture the allure of witches, while still holding on to her own individuality.
Plot – ★★★★★ The fast paced plot kept me turning pages until the very end. I continued guessing throughout the whole book.
Characters – ★★★★★ The main character of Nathan battles constantly between his ancestry and the way he was raised, adding a lot of flesh to the story. All of the secondary characters are complex and full of life, constantly making me smile throughout my reading.
Storyworld – ★★★★☆ The storyworld of Half-Bad pretty organized, but it could have used just a few more aspects to make it lifelike.
Style/Theme – ★★★★★ Sally Green daringly opens Half-Bad with a second person point of view that made me instantly love the book. Half-Blood teaches that your past doesn’t define you or your future.
Closing Thoughts – While I was nervous about reading Half-Bad, I’m so glad that I did. It was a wonderful read that I highly recommend to fans of fantasy. 

(summary and cover from GoodReads)

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees

★★★★★ (4.75)
Written as a letter from a victim to her captor, this is Gemma’s desperate story of survival. (summary from the inside of the book jacket)
Initial Thoughts – This haunting book is based on Stockholm Syndrome. It’s an incredible story that I’m going to be recommending for a long time.
Plot – ★★★★☆ I thought that the plot was a bit slow in a few places. However, I was always anxious to start reading as soon as I had stopped.
Characters – ★★★★★ The characters of Ty and Gemma, the captor, was complex and believable,
Storyworld – ★★★★★ Gemma is kidnapped and taken to a desolate desert in Australia. The terrifying emptiness enhances the story so much.
Style/Theme – ★★★★★ Lucy Christopher captivated me with her writing style from the first sentence.
Closing Thoughts – Stolen is a must read. It will suck you in from the first page and won’t release you until the very last.

(cover from GoodReads)