The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

Jillian’s Review:

I was really excited about this book when, by the first page, I was hooked. The first chapter got me even more excited and then it plummeted to the ground. Mara, who I thought would be an enjoyable character, turns out to be a foul-mouthed, annoying psycho. She’s supposedly an artist, but doesn’t think like one (meaning, she doesn’t notice colors, or shading, or the shapes of anything). She sees ghosts and hears things but doesn’t really do anything about it. [Spoiler alert] She thinks she’s able to kill things with her mind, but by the end of the book I’m still not sure if that’s what’s really happening.

This had a great plot and I assume it is well written—the story is so enthralling that I didn’t notice if the writing was good or bad, which is a really good thing. This could have easily been at least a four star book had Mara not been cussing up a storm the entire time.

And then there's the guy. Ick. First off, he doesn’t sound hygienically pleasing—wearing nasty, ratty clothes and smoking half the time, not to mention his “history” with all the girls in the school. Gross. And his mouth is just a foul as Mara’s. I couldn’t believe how many times they dropped the F-bomb in this! But the worst were the sexual innuendos. Really? Did you really have to put all that trash in what could have been a really great read?

And last, but not least, the ending was horrible. It didn’t end. There was no resolution, [spoiler alert] just Mara screaming her head off in a police station. Such a disappointment.

Despite the gorgeous cover (which actually never happens in the book—so annoying!), I have to give this one 2 ½ stars. And those stars are for the great story, if Hodkin had just kept out the filth. No teenager (nobody for that matter) needs to sift through all that garbage to get to the good stuff.

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, Book 3) by Kelley Armstrong

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

The explosive final part of the Darkest Powers trilogy, Kelley Armstrong's internationally bestselling YA series. [Wow, wasn’t that informative. That has to be the worst synopsis on goodreads and I just don’t have it in me to write one myself!]

Jillian’s Review:

(I just reviewed the second in this series, The Awakening, and wanted to post my review of the third.)

This is a great third book that picks up right where the last one left off. From almost the beginning of the series, I’ve been rooting for one guy to win Chloe‘s heart. I was not disappointed in this one. I love how protective, strong, and smart this said guy is (I’m not going to give it away). He’s such a likable character, even when he’s kind of a jerk. But even with him so strong, I love that he needs Chloe to help him through his most painful trials.

I was happy to see the kids finally get some grownup help, but then it turned out not to be so helpful. At least in the end they pick up some adults they could rely on.

This one is really action-packed. Even when the kids are stuck in the same house for a few chapters, things are constantly happening and their lives are always in danger.

And this had a really great ending! I finally I get the romance I wanted all along from the guy I wanted to end up with Chloe. I love it when I get my way. :) A perfect finale in a great trilogy.

Turn-offs: still too much swearing and gory stuff for me to give it a full five stars. I wasn’t too thrilled with the witch-girl who ended up tagging along. She was annoying, but she added to the story and gave another angle of opposition that would have been lacking without her.

Looking forward to reading the first, The Gathering, in Armstrong's newest series, Darkness Rising.

The Awakening (Darkest Powers, Book 2) by Kelley Armstrong

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl—someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment—not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

Jillian’s Review:

I love this series. It's spooky, has ghosts and genetically altered kids, plenty of action, and some romance. It begins about the next day from where the last book ends, so I expected to be kind of lost since I've read about 90 books between the first book and this one, but Armstrong does a great job of reminding the reader of the important events of book one and jumping us right into this next phase of the adventure.

Each of the characters are realistic, the main character is likeable which is sometimes hard to come by in YA fiction (too often they are selfish brats and unrealistic). I kept have to remind myself that she's only 15 because she seems more like a 17 year old and the cover picture doesn't help. Her two boy allies are great. I'm rooting for Derek and I'm really hopeful that something will finally happen in book three, The Reckoning.

Two negatives were the swearing—there’s not a ton of it, but enough to annoy—and the gory scenes are pretty graphic, but that’s why they’re so chilling. All in all, a great read. I couldn’t put it down.