"Lock and Key" by Sarah Dessen

“What happens when your past is not just past, but wiped clean entirely? How do you figure out where you’re going when you can’t even claim where you’ve been? These were the questions that inspired Lock and Key. It’s the story of a girl named Ruby who is abandoned by her mother and determined to make it on her own, even—and especially—when she is sent to live with her long-lost sister in a whole new world of privilege, family, and relationships. As Ruby learns, there’s a big difference between being given help and being able to accept it. And sometimes, it takes reaching out to someone else to save yourself.” - Sarah Dessen's website

This is the second Sarah Dessen book I’ve read, the first being The Truth About Forever. I guess everyone’s right, she’s amazing! Her writing is so gorgeous. It’s very descriptive and emotionally charged, she makes you FEEL the characters, everything seeming so real. I might have felt kind of disconnected from Ruby if it weren’t for that, but I didn’t. The whole story is full of Ruby (and sometimes Nate’s) raw emotions and that made the whole thing more enjoyable. I felt so bad and so confused for Ruby, after her mom’s disappearance. I had a feeling of what Cora would tell her, and that Ruby’s impressions weren’t necessarily true, and I was right. (What am I talking about? I’ll give you my usual answer: read the book.)

My favorite character was probably Jamie, he tried to hard for Cora and Ruby to give them what they never had and be there for them. He was hilarious, too. The whole UMe thing was quite funny too. I liked all of the characters, actually (well, all the good characters, anyway). Olivia was great and I could really appreciate her helping Ruby… and Gervais was just amusing. The only qualm I have with the characters (and really, this is my qualm with the book in general, though not that bad) was Nate. I liked Nate, I liked how Ruby and him got along and could relate, they kind of needed each other, BUT I never really got to like him that much… despite his emotions showing through sometimes and his action, I never felt a connection to him as a character, and I missed that, I think that might’ve helped me love the book rather than just quite liking it, though I’m not sure why it effected me so.

"Repossessed" by A.M. Jenkins

"Shaun... did something happen today? Anything out of the ordinary?"
Well, Shaun died, but other than that...
"Nope," I told Shaun's mom. "It' s just been a normal, regular day."

Kiriel doesn't like the term "demon". It's far too negative. He prefers "Fallen Angel", which is the proper technical term, anyway.
Though he doesn't really enjoy his job, either.
Kiriel isn't an "important" demon... His job is simply to reflect misery back onto the souls in hell. That's all. Nothing more important.
The big guy hasn't even paid any attention to him. Only important fallen angels get attention from God.
And trouble makers.

When Kiriel discovers that hell doesn't blow up when he doesn't do his job, he decides to take a vacation. It's not like he's ever had one before... Who cares if it's technically against the rules? Maybe it'll get him some notice in the end.

So he steals a body. The boy who it used to belong to was barely using it anyway, so what does it matter that he takes over for a few days?

Through the body of Shaun, a typical slacker highschooler, Kiriel discovers what it's like to be a human. And he likes it.
But how long does he have before the body is "repossessed"?

Whatever the reason, they punish themselves. I merely oversee; I don't actually do anything about anything.
Mine is a useless occupation.

I really liked this book. It was a very interesting point of view, reading from the head of a demon. Surprisingly, although Kiriel decides to see what's so enjoyable about sinning, he seemed to be one of the more innocent characters in the book. He had a very interesting outlook on the life he leads in Shaun's body, and I actually ended up agreeing with his points.
So, I think the author did very well making him a relatable character.

Besides that, it was just a very interesting book. Some of the themes can be carried over and related to our own lives... Especially us teens. You know, the whole, "my place isn't important," "my job isn't important" "no one notices me", and all that crap.

I also liked how it made fun of teenagers, and our lives.

You have to be warned however, that there are quite a few mentions of sex in this book, and some swearing. So if those sorts of things concern you, I wouldn't read this book.

"Tighter" by Adele Griffin

“When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.” -goodreads

I picked up Tighter right before going to bed. I continued reading Tighter until it was over. I couldn’t put it down! I had to see how the story would conclude. It’s also only 216 pages, so I wasn’t up all night finishing it or anything (although I probably would have been, had it been longer), but it was 216 pages of brain-twisting, mind-numbing, mystery and suspense. I had to know what Jamie was actually seeing, and what was real, what wasn’t.

Jamie is not (or at least doesn't start out) a likable main character. She’s depressed, she stole pills from her parents, and she doesn’t generally seem very smart at all in the beginning. As the story goes on, especially toward the end, she’s a bit more likable. But she’s not the ONLY character. While Isa (the troubled girl Jamie is an au pair for) was withdrawn in her own world, in her imagination where she could hide, I found her really likable. Everything she said I felt she said in earnest. Part murder mystery, part thriller, and many other elements, Tighter had variety.

I loved the writing, it was poetic and nice, with some really raw emotion displayed through it. The conclusion was shocking and a burst of action at the end, I did NOT expect what Jamie ended up doing. I’ve never read any others of Adele Griffin’s many novels, but I’ll be sure to look them up now!
Extra note: The cover. I love it. Sets the creepy level for the book!

"Plague" (Gone, #4) by Michael Grant

*As usual with sequel reviews, the description is spoiler-y, so I haven’t included it. The below review may reveal minor spoilers about the previous two books. YOU ARE WARNED.*

I love this series, I do.  I can’t wait for Fear (April 2012) and Light to come out so I can finally find out the fate of our beloved characters… but (sadly, there‘s a ‘but‘)… Plague. Oh dear. It still had action, it still had different perspectives, and there was still unexpected twists and turns with the punch of a broad cast of characters-- my favorite parts of the series so far, but Plague was a bit of a let down. It wasn’t *bad*. It just wasn’t what I expected, either. At some point in Plague, I’m not sure how far in I was, I started feeling like I was reading about a soap-opera or some other sometimes overly dramatic situation set in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world (inside a dome!)… Too dramatic at times. And Sam’s self-pity and erratic behavior plus a very selfish attitude kept propping up all over the place and I can’t say I like Sam much anymore which is disappointing as I loved him in Gone and Hunger and somewhat in Lies (by the way, I don’t mean loved like, OMG SWOON IT’S EDWARD CULLEN, which I’m seriously not like, by the way, but I thought Sam was a fantastic character). It didn’t feel like a filler book for me or anything like that, there were still new developments and few things resolved, which is fortunate because I would have absolutely hated that.

ALSO, major warning: KILLER CLIFF-HANGER. Fear doesn’t come out until April. That kills me. I think I’m traumatized by the wait, because I was able to read the first four so close together as they’ve been released for a while. Seriously, the cliff-hanger has launched me into a (hopefully short) stand-alone/completed series only kind of mood so I don’t have to see one of those for a while. But the point of a cliffhanger is to make you want more and be excited for the next book, which I definitely am, so I guess it’s effective!

Bottom line: This book in the Gone series just didn‘t resonate with me, but I still can’t wait for the next one, which I hope I like more.

"Lies" (Gone, #3) by Michael Grant

*As usual with sequel reviews, the description is spoiler-y, so I haven’t included it. The below review may reveal minor spoilers about the previous two books. YOU ARE WARNED.*

Lies is my favorite book in the Gone series so far. Not only did it continue all of the good things from the other two books, but there was MORE (if that’s possible)! The slight problems I had with Hunger were even less in their severity. THERE WERE ANSWERS. Those capital letters were entirely necessary. Now, there weren’t big answers like how to magically get outside of the dome (there’s three more books, it doesn’t work that way, folks), but we found out… oh I’m itching to tell you guys, but I can’t. We found out something that’s kind of a big deal. No one is sure whether their relatives still exist or know they’re gone. You’ll find THAT out if you read Lies. Sam is still quite angst-y but I could deal with it. My favorite character in this one was probably Astrid just because of the end, and her progression throughout the books of getting stronger and all, although I admittedly wasn’t her biggest fan for parts of the book. Lies was shorter (only a bit) than Hunger but I felt it packed an even bigger punch. Another element that was present in all of the books, but I felt strongest in Lies is the multiple view points. The story switches view points all the time and that keeps everything going and fresh while helping you get the whole story; it’s not in first person, so it’s not in another person’s mind per say, but just not everything from the location of the main character.

As the third book in the Gone series, Lies continues the awesome. These books aren’t just good, they’re explosive. I was hooked (as usual) from the beginning and could hardly put it down. As much as Gone and more than Hunger, it’s one of those books that you’d rather read than sleep because you have to know what happens and you’ll probably bring it everywhere with you. Simply amazing.

"Vanish" (Firelight, #2) by Sophie Jordan

September 6th, 2011 - HarperTeen

(The description is a bit spoiler-y to the first book. If you’d like to check it out and find tons more info on the book, visit Sophie Jordan’s website here.)

I really appreciate book series where each new book exceeds your expectations and there’s never a dull ‘middle book’. After reading Firelight, and then seeing the cover and summary for Vanish, I had really high expectations for it. I had a theory about who was on the cover, and surprisingly I was right. (Do you have a theory? Maybe you’re right like me. But you’ll have to read it to find out whether you’re also correct or not!) I liked Vanish even more than Firelight!! (Which I liked a lotttt!!)

As the story continues, it just gets better. There was never a dull moment. Vanish is an emotional roller coaster, but in a good way. The ending of Vanish leaves you craving more (as with Firelight). I also found the characters interesting, as they developed a lot more. They fooled me. People I strongly disliked in the first one, I found liking more in Vanish as they developed more. Also, I was firmly Team Will at the end of the first, and not only am I team Cassian now, I think he’s my new favorite character as we saw more of him. (You’ll probably find yourself at least swaying towards his side!) Almost all of the characters changed for me though, and I found myself feeling even more connected to our heroine Jacinda-- her narrative is awesome.

Same as Firelight, I found the draki element very interesting and unique. It continues to develop and we learn more about how that works. And there’s a new draki in town-- you’ll be surprised who it is. Overall, a great sequel that I doubt will disappoint!! Be sure to look for it when it comes out (meantime, read Firelight if you haven't!)
Thank you HarperTeen for giving me the opportunity to review this exciting sequel.