Blur by Steven James

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Author: Steven James
Genre: Young Adult | Mystery
Series: Blur Trilogy
Book: 1
Release Date: May 27th, 2014
Publisher: Skyscape
Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Read: April 4th, 2014

Synopsis
The isolated town of Beldon, Wisconsin, is shocked when a high school freshman’s body is found in Lake Algonquin. Just like everyone in the community, sixteen-year-old Daniel Byers believes that Emily Jackson’s death was accidental. But at her funeral, when he has a terrifying vision of her, his world begins to rip apart at the seams.

Convinced that Emily’s appearance was more than just a mere hallucination, Daniel begins to look carefully into her death, even as he increasingly loses the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality.

What’s real? What’s not? Where does reality end and madness begin?

As Daniel struggles to find the truth, his world begins to crumble around him as he slips further and further into his own private blurred reality.

My Thoughts
Written in third person, this book was told from Daniel's point of view. As a high school quarterback, he lives a pretty normal life until he attends a funeral of a 14-year-old girl.

It was a great blend of fantasy, horror and suspense. There were scenes where things got real spooky that freaked me out quite a bit and I loved it. I also liked that this book wasn't too big on romance and the suspense was absolutely spot on. It was impossible to guess who the killer was.

This book had amazing wording. It made the whole murder thing feel so much more interesting with the great word choice and the nice flow of the writing. It was a little slow in the middle, but things moved faster later on. The ending was unpredictable and wrapped up really well. I loved all the twists and turns.

Besides wonderful wording and plots, the character development was equally astonishing. I liked every character and felt connected with Daniel who was the main character.

In short, this book was a delightful read with some frightening scenes. It is suitable for those who enjoy a good murder mystery book.

Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: Young Adult | Urban Fantasy
Series: Elemental
Book: 4
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Read: February 4th, 2014

Synopsis 
EARTH. FIRE. AIR. WATER.

Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He's trying to keep his grades sky-high or he won't get in to college. He's trying to keep his brother's business afloat or the Merricks will be out on the street. He's trying to keep the secret of where he's going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel - or he fears he'll lose his family. And he's trying to keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who is his 'girlfriend's' partner.

And then Quinn takes to hanging around his sworn enemy, and an Elemental Guide is counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. Storms are brewing. On all sides.

SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR.

My Thoughts
This has been one of my most favorite fantasy series of all time. I'm glad I took a chance and started Storm back in last November. What so great about starting this series later than others is that I didn't have to wait for months to read the sequels. But waiting to read this one was torture, but it was worth the wait because I LOVED every page, every word and every character. Nick has always been my favorite and it was such a thrill reading about him.

Isn't it great that this series keeps you on your toes the whole way through? You just can't decide who's right and who's wrong because the good guys aren't always good and the same goes to those who supposed to be the bad ones.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Authors: Gena Showalter

Series: White Rabbit Chronicles

Book: 1

Format: 404

Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal

Published Date: September 25 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Synopsis

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

Review

For some reasons, even I have read hundreds of books already, this book is the third book I have read about zombies. Well, maybe it is not that hard to imagine since I cannot stand zombies - movies or books. They are just too gross!

However, I really liked this book and would recommend it to everyone who just likes me - cannot stand zombies. Maybe it was because this book did not overly descriptive when it came to zombies. The first zombies book I read was so gross that I could not eat anything that day. I guess this one is mild enough for everyone to enjoy. But if you are a huge fan of brain-eating scenes, you might be a bit disappointed.

The cover was what drew my attention in the first place. Oh. Em. Gee!!!! What a cover! It was so beautiful that I had to read the book. To be frank, I was a bit nervous since I have read another version of Alice in Zombieland written Nickolas Cook and I didn't like it even one bit. It was so gruesome and the illustrations were so scary. I didn't finish that book, though. I could not go pass chapter 4.

Back to Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter. What I really liked about it was the characters. Ali was fierce and not at all clumsy. I really like it when the female characters can stand up for themselves and kick some a**. Cole, male leading character, was also fascinating (and scorching hot!). The grandparents were so funny and I loved them dearly, which made me a bit sad at how the book ended. And how could I forget Kat? She was hilarious! I would love to hang out with her.

Another excellent quality of the book is the wording. It is getting pretty difficult to find a decent young adult books that do not contain swear words. I was really happy reading this one and found that the author did not use even a single cuss word. When I was reading it and realized that Cole being a bad, bad boy he was, I thought, here we go again. Cole would drop F-bombs like crazy. But no, not even one and I really appreciated that.