A Touch of Death (The Outlands Pentalogy #1) by Rebecca Crunden

A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden

My Rating: ★★★

In the distant future, what remains of mankind lives under the harsh leadership in the Kingdom of Cutta. Hailing from a rich family close to the king, Catherine has a perfect sheltered life until her fiance's brother gets in a fight that leaves the pair traveling through land that has been mostly untouched for a thousand years. They contract a unique disease that leaves them unable to touch anyone but each other, and her soon to be brother in law begins to rot from the inside out. One wrong move leaves them running for their lives and trying to find safety beyond Cutta.

I really enjoyed this story. I have a soft spot for dystopian novels, so I knew this was going to be right up my alley. The characters are strong willed, clear, and vibrant. I found myself loving the relationships between them and found myself sad the few times well loved characters were leaving. One of the things I love about this story is the world building. Crunden carefully works to create a clear vision of what this world looks like and how it works without taking her readers out of the story. It was also interesting to watch the wool slowly get snatched from Catherine's sheltered eyes. She's forced to think about the world she thought she lived in and see how it really is. She's rather naive and stubborn when it comes to this, so she's constantly fighting with Nate and herself about reality.

That said, sometimes the arguing between Catherine and Nate got to be too much. I knew they were going to continue to clash throughout the story, but their arguments started to become redundant and wordy as I got closer to the end. That's my only complaint about this great series opener. Crunden did a wonderful job at setting up the plot for future books, and I can't wait to get my hands on the second installment.

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

My Rating: ★★

Makani makes one jealous mistake and her life was over. She lost her boyfriend and her friends. Not even her parents look at her the same, not that she blames them. Her parents decide to ship her off to live with her grandma and enter a small town life where no knows who she is and what her secret is. However, small town life goes from normal to alarming when a terrifying killer appears without a clear pattern.

I really enjoyed the rotating perspectives with Makani being the central voice that we see. I love several of the characters, especially Makani's grandma. I would love to hang out with her grandma and put together puzzles and stuff. I loved Makini's friends and the high school gossip element as well. It reminded me of being back in school and the gossip that spread fast.

However, there were a few things that kept taking me out of the story. The first thing is Makani's big secret past. I wish we knew what it was a lot sooner than when she finally spilled the beans so that we knew what was weighing her down so much. I was finding myself more interested in what the big secret was than the murder plot. Finally, the romance plot overshadows the horror plot. I wish the creepy factor was a little more amped up and that the romance was scaled back a bit.

Several of my friends have been raving about this book, so I really wanted to love it. Sadly, it just isn't a match made in heaven. For me, this novel is far more YA romance than horror, which is not something that I was expecting. There are things that I like about this book, but the things that bothered me just made it fall flat. All in all, it's not a bad book. There are definitely some good things going on in it. I think it simply comes down to it just not being my cup of tea. That said, several of my friends love it and I already plan on recommending it to a few more because I know they'll love it too. I also think that it would make a great slasher movie that I would most likely enjoy.

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Rating: ★★★★

Abby and her best friend, Gretchen, are as close as best friends could get. One day they drop acid with a couple of friends from school, but the acid never hits, and Gretchen takes off wearing nothing but a pair of shoes. Things get weird when she turns up hours later with an unseen entity: a demon hell bent on destroying everything Gretchen cares about. The demon burns every bridge there is and leaves Gretchen with a single bright spot: Abby.

I absolutely love this story. It's a demon possession rooted in one of my favorite things to read about: friendship. The story starts out a little slow, but it's important to build this close friendship so that it's realistic for Abby to risk it all when she's all that Gretchen has left. I love that we quickly go through the early years between these two characters. How they met in school but never really spoke until Abby's disastrous birthday party with a single guest: Gretchen. These two are inseparable after the bond they shared at this party, which reminds me of how it was for me and my best friends throughout school. These characters feel natural and relatable, which makes it so easy to root for them and pray they come out on top.

Whether you believe in demons or demon possession, the story is realistic enough to make you question whether or not Gretchen is possessed or if she's just turned on everyone even when things are clearly leaning toward possession. She's not crawling up walls or anything like that. It starts out somewhat subtle and quickly turns to evil, which makes it a chilling tale.

The story really comes out swinging once things get going, and I like that we also get a glimpse at the rest of their lives. It comes full circle and makes it a truly enjoyable book. Plus, Hendrix does an excellent job capturing the voices of his characters and makes them really sound their ages and genders. There was no mistaking who was who or at what point in their life he captured them at any point of the story. Even the subtle changes in Gretchen as the demon took over made who was present very clear. I will definitely be rereading this novel in the future.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

My Rating: ★★★

Catherine is a talented baker who dreams of owning and running a bakery with her friend. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for her. The King of Hearts is so taken by Catherine's beauty and baking that he wants to wed her, and her parents refuse to see her do anything but honor her duty as their only daughter. She is forced to fight fate and choose to take a chance and live out her dreams or become the queen she was always meant to be.

I was really excited when I first heard about this book. Not only is it a Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retelling, but also a Queen of Hearts origin story. I love origin stories, and the idea of following a tale that tells the story of the Queen of Hearts is an exciting one.

Unfortunately, Heartless did not live up to my excitement, but I may have built it up more than I should have. It's a great story, but it lagged a bit for about half the book. Again, I may have had higher expectations than I should have, so I think I was just expecting something more. That said, it's an entertaining story. The characters are wonderfully enriching, so it's exciting every time we meet a familiar face as the book continues. I love the little bits of foreshadowing that are cleverly weaved in as the story continues.

It was occasionally hard to follow Catherine because she was so blinded by her dreams and opinions as well as perspective. However, it did make sense for someone of her age in a Young Adult novel, as well as someone who dreams more than they pay attention to reality for a large portion of time. All in all, it was an enjoyable read and I hope to see more retellings from the perspective of villains in the future.