Standing (Waterblaze Trilogy #1)

In a future where two tyrants hold the world in an iron grip, humanity is about to meet its doom. An empathetic girl from the past is called to action by a group of technologically advanced mermaids. An apocalypse is coming.

Along with fellow time traveler, Force, she is sent to the future as the last hope for humanity. The stakes are high, the odds against her. Can she overcome her fears and step into her destiny? Can she lead a people to victory who lost hope long ago?

*May Contain Spoilers*

China Dennington debuts her writing with the first book in the Waterblaze Trilogy, Standing. When Gale suddenly learns of her enhanced DNA and time traveling capabilities, it's an unexpected chance to save the world. 

Gale is the main character of this first installment. She's a young girl who has always been drawn to the ocean while also terrified of it. Turns out, her DNA has the ability to adapt to underwater living and traveling through time. Surprisingly, Gale did not freak out or question any of this new information. Gale is also an empath, so she knew the people sharing this information with her were truthful. But still, I think the girl deserves some time to freak out a little bit. I know I would if the fate of the entire world rested on my shoulders. Even though this is fantasy/science fiction, it made her character a little harder to believe. Merpeople, time travel, futuristic rulers dooming earth - I'm totally on board. Love it. But, I want to believe in the main character and she seemed to lack some depth. 

The storyline begins with Gale attempting to save her little sister from drowning in the ocean. A cruel joke, the Merpeople tricked Gale into entering the ocean so that her DNA would be activated. Once activated, Gale is able to access her powers of surviving under water and traveling through time (something that all merpeople are capable of). In the future, the leader of the merpeople sent a message back in time to warn them of the world's destruction. Gale teams up with Force, another DNA enhanced human, in hopes of saving the world. The plot is well laid out and I enjoyed the action. But I wanted more details in the story. Dennington seems to 'tell' with her writing, rather than 'show.' I wanted to bear witness, feel the emotions, the action, the hope teetering on the edge of oblivion. Standing was a nice, quick, easy, and enjoyable read. Impressive for a young writer and good for a young audience. Though I wish the book would have been developed a little further with deeper character connections. 

Rating: 2/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (175)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers



Flicker (Kindle 1%)
   - Kaye Thornbrugh

Curious visions sometimes flickered before Lee's eyes, mostly when she wasn't looking straight at them. Gnarled faces in the bark of trees. Boys with stubby goat horns who snickered in the semidarkness of movie theatres. Teenage girls with glinting cat eyes who sat on the curb smoking weird silver cigarettes.

Asylum

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.

As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.

*May Contain Spoilers*

The history of New Hampshire College will invite readers into the haunted halls to study for a summer college prep course in Madeleine Roux's novel, Asylum. When Dan discovers that his summer dorm was once the background for highly immoral experimental procedures for the criminally insane, he starts to wonder what could still be hiding in the shadows and the off-limits office. 

Daniel Crawford cannot wait to go to college. He's intrigued by history and psychology, always studying and sitting alone at the lunch table. When the prep course at NHC begins, he's filled with excitement allowing us learning nerds to connect with Dan right off the bat. Nothing like the empty pages of a new notebook, am I right? While Daniel enjoys education, he is also interested in toeing the line of rules and regulations. But a little adventure isn't always a good thing. No matter, Dan is actually a pretty brave kid (especially when trying to impress a girl) but he's also kind of creepy at times. Like when he blacks out and someone ends up hurt... or when he tries on a reportedly insane psychiatrist's spectacles. The good and the bad really balance out in Daniel as he tries to be less awkward and more open, which lets readers connect with him even more. 

The plot of Asylum is basic while simultaneously frightening. At first, with the photographs and such, I thought it would be comparable to Ransom Riggs' Peculiar Children novels. However, that is not the case. Daniel discovers that his dorm, Brookline, once housed the criminally insane. While there, the inmates were subjected to inhumane experiments to cure them. Daniel and two friends decide to dig in to the secrets of the Asylum around the same time that people start dying. One patient sticks out the most: The Sculptor, who would kill and then pose his victims as if they were still alive. With Daniel blacking out and losing blocks of time, he begins to think he's going insane but he hopes to catch the murderer instead of being him. 

Though Asylum is a young adult novel, I would advise caution with this book. It isn't as brutal and gruesome as it could be, but it is quite creepy. I was creeped out enough not to read it before bed. Even with the warning, Asylum was an interesting, entertaining, murder mystery that I struggled to put down. I even took it on errands with me just in case I found myself with a few precious moments of down time. I'm definitely looking forward to book two. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Corsican Justice

Hardy is visiting Corsica for the first time to explore the possibility of arranging a hiking tour for segments of Corsica's infamous hiking trail, the GR20. He also seeks some closure for the fact that his father was killed in a highway accident on the island several years earlier. When Hardy learns his father was actually murdered, his world is shaken; he seeks the truth amid arms smuggling, Russian mobsters, and judicial corruption. Corsican Justice encompasses justice on several levels, with an understanding of the Corsican vendetta as the core of the island's justice system that goes back centuries.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Mortal danger, mobsters, and machine guns can really put a damper on a vacation. Though, Hardy Durkin tries to keep a smile on his face in Corsican Justice by Bluette Matthey. Researching a hiking trail for his senior-focused trail blazing business, Hardy travels to Corsica in hopes of finding a new trail and closure with his dad's death, but his hopes may be too high. 

Hardy is an American who, if I understood it correctly, was born and raised in Germany because of his father's military career. He's a former military member himself and now runs his own business. As a character, Hardy is brave, spontaneous, loyal, and instinctual. Readers who enjoy the outdoors will be able to connect with Hardy on that point. Other readers will be able to understand his need for closure with his dad's death, which turns out to be a murder and not an accident like the police reported. Mystery lovers will enjoy that opening plot twist and let that lead their interest. 

The plot is intense, to say the least. Hardy gets way more than he bargained for when first stepping foot in Corsica. He's immediately the almost-victim of a murder, cursed, and mortally threatened within the first half of the book. After Hardy discovers that his father was in fact murdered, he follows the lead, which pulls him into a mob fight between Corsicans and Russians. There are lots of murders, lots of things blowing up, and lots of detail. Some is a bit extreme. Readers with queasy stomachs may want to skim those sections. 

The writing style is factual and a bit dry at times. In some chapters, I thought I was reading a travel book, while others thickly recounted Corsican history. And, not being a history buff, I feel like I zoned out during those parts. The plot line is interesting however, and I put up with the history and the travel info to finish Hardy's story. He's a relatable, likeable character who stumbles into a complete sh*t storm, for lack of a better term. I would most definitely recommend this novel for anyone who likes mystery, mob-musings, or adventure. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups