Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren

Rating: **
Genre: Historical fiction, sci fi, romance
Series: First of a trilogy
Pages: 369
For Gabi and Lia, it's shaping up to be yet another boring of summer of uncovering artifacts in ancient Italian burial mounds. Their mother is an archaeologist. They do that every summer. But when they decide to explore the tomb for themselves instead of watching their mom do it from afar, Gabi is swept back seven hundred years to medieval battlefield. Lia is nowhere to be found.
Waterfall avoided some of the more annoying quirks of time travel romances. Gabi is fluent in both Italian and Latin, so there's no need for everybody in Medieval Italy to magically and conveniently start speaking twenty-first century English. She doesn't cower behind knight in shining armor whenever the Bad Guys come out to play. Half the time she's the one wielding the sword.
Waterfall is a very good time travel novel, but a deplorable romance. It's obvious why Marcello (aka Sir Shiny Armor) likes Gabi. How many fourteenth century woman have the spunk to repel down a castle wall with a sword in hand, pretend to be nobility, and back-talk a man, all in effort to find and save her little sister?
But I can't see why Gabi would be willing to spend fifteen seconds of her life fantasizing over this guy. He's described as being hot and treats her with all the courtesy that befits the lady she's pretending to be. But that means nothing to me. I have to see heroic feats of bravery or heartmelting acts of kindness before I bat an eyelash.
The climax happens about a hundred pages before the end of the book. Twenty of those are necessary. The rest is an extended victory party.
Then there's the title. There is no waterfall or even a waterfall metaphor in the entire story.
Waterfall is a good read for anybody who enjoys strong protagonists, action, historical detail, and hot guys on horses (with a disappointing lack of other positive qualities).

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.

EPIC by Conor Kostick

 
Rating: ***1/2
Genre: Sci fi, fantasy, adventure, dystopian
Series: Two sequels
Pages: 396
     Erik's life isn't too different from many of ours': eat, sleep, work, video games. But in Erik's world, your success in life depends on your success in Epic, a virtual reality game slightly similar to World of Warcraft. If you play well, you can live in a nice house and go to college. If you don't, you live in a tiny farm house with no future, like Erik.
     But when Erik's character dies and takes his hard earned money with it, he doesn't feel like playing by the rules anymore. When he creates his new character, he spends all his points on beauty instead of strength or weapons. That would be a pretty stupid decision if it didn't cause somebody to walk up to his character and hand over a priceless jewel. Instead of fighting easy monsters for meager money, Erik convinces his friends to help him with an impossible quest that surprises them by paying off. Big time. But when Erik makes a shocking discovery, he begins to wonder if the world might be better off without Epic.
     I like the idea of the book, but the characters bugged me, particularly Erik. He not a very interesting character and I thought the story could have been told just as well from any of his friends' point of view. At least they have one or two distinguishing characteristics. I recommend Epic to readers of sci fi and dystopian fiction, as well as people who wonder why books can't be as interesting as video games.
     

The Invisible Detective: The Paranormal Puppet Show by Justin Richards

         
     Rating: ****
     Genre: Mystery, historical fiction, sci fi, paranormal
     Series: There are eight books. This is the first one
      Also published as Double Life.
     London, 1930's: The Invisible Detective is brilliant at locating missing children and pets, but nobody knows who he is...except for the four children who solve crimes in his name. But Arthur "Art" Drake, Meg, Johnny, and Flinch are facing their strangest case yet. A magician, two assistants, and an eerie collection of "paranormal puppets" move into town around the time an important politician goes missing. And could the puppets possibly be moving around in the night?
     London, Today: Arthur Drake ducks into an antique shop to get away from the rain and finds the Invisible  Detective's casebook. Strangely, his name and address are written in the book-and in his own handwriting. And why does he find he can remember things about the Invisible Detective that the casebook doesn't mention?

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.

Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch

       
      Rating: ***1/2
      Genre: sci fi
      Pages: 480    
      Also published as The Accidental Hero. Why do they change titles like that? It's so annoying.
     Jack, it was just another dreary day in the orphanage until two visitors showed up. The first is a robot zombie that tries to kill him. The next one if Agent Jazen Knight, an android from a secret island country called the Imagine Nation. Jazen tells Jack he has superpowers and whisks him off to the Imagine Nation.
     The Imagine Nation is a very diverse place. It is populated by aliens, robots, superheroes, knights, and ninjas, among other things. As different as they may be, they all have one thing in common: they think Jack is an evil alien-in-disguise intent on destroying earth.
    Well, all might not be the most accurate word. There are five or six people who think he's just an innocent twelve-year-old boy. Luckily, some of these people are the Imagine Nation's leaders, so Jack gets to live and practice his newfound powers. Jack meets some friends, makes some enemies, blasts a few aliens, and tries to convince everybody that he isn't an evil supervillain. But something doesn't seem quite right about the Imagine Nation. Jack is forced to take matters into his own hands and discovers a life changing secret.
     Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation is an interesting book with a shocking twist ending. I wish I could tell you, but you'll have to read it yourself.

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

 
                               
     Book Rating: *****
     Clean rating: *****
     Genre: romance, sci fi
     Series: First of a trilogy
     Pages: 400
     Sometimes prologues reveal things about the story to come. But this one just draws us deeper into the mystery. It mysteriously describes a young, innocent prisoner who is sentenced to walk through a foreboding black door. Though the door is not attached to anything, the prisoner simply vanishes into midair.
     Abby is having a successful, if somewhat boring, senior year. She has college applications in the mail, two great friends by her side, a cute boyfriend, and a school play to direct. On weekends, she rocks out at concerts by Zero Hour, the hottest new boy band. Then one day, a mysterious, good-looking boy walks into the auditorium during rehearsal. His name is Dante and he claims to be a foreign exchange student from Italy.
     Strange things seem to happen when Dante is around, aside from the entire female population of Abby's high school swooning. Time seems to slow down, speed up, and bend back on itself. Abby starts to get strange glimpses of the future. Who is  Dante, really? Why won't he reveal anything about his past? Why does he disappear so often? And what's up with the strange gloves he always wears?
     The Hourglass  Door is not just a romance. There's plenty of other action and mystery. Dante is an intriguing character who draws you into the story and keeps you guessing.

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.

MATCHED by Ally Condie

                                                                                    
Book rating: *****
Clean rating: *****
Genre: dystopian, romance
Series: First of a trilogy
Pages: 384
     In Cassia's world, everything is supposed to be perfect. The Society makes all the choices for you: where you live, what you eat, what your job is, who you marry, and even when you die.
     At Cassia's Matching ceremony she'll find out who her perfect mate is. Usually your match lives thousands of miles away, but Cassia's turns out to be none other than her best friend, Xander.
    Then Cassia takes a look at Xander's file and receives a surprise. Xander's picture is replaced by Ky. Cassia has known Ky for years, but never gave much thought to this quiet boy with a mysterious past. But now she's intrigued and the two of them quickly becoming friends. And then something more. She knows this is forbidden, but she can't help the ways she feels about his looks (gorgeous), the secret messages (not exactly within the rules), and the poetry (very, very, forbidden) that he writes. Soon, Cassia begins discovers things the society doesn't want her to know, and she'll have to pay the price.
      Unlike many romance novels, MATCHED doesn't have overly flowery dialouge, though the many metaphors and symbols were starting to annoy me. The obstacle to their love is society, not parents or pride. Another bonus is that Ky is a likable character. With many romance novels, I can't see why the girl bothered to fall in love with the guy in the first place. Lastly, MATCHED is one of those books that keeps you up till two in the morning because you need to know what happens next.

Like what you read? Check out my other blog, ourvoiceteen.blogspot.com.