The Reader Bee: Aliens

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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Review: The Replaced by Kimberly Derting

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21522102-the-replaced

The Replaced
(The Taking, #2)
by Kimberly Derting
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Publication Date: April 28th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 368
ISBN: 9780062293633
Genre: Young Adult | Sci-Fi | Aliens
Source: Edelweiss

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Romantic and action-packed, The Replaced is the gripping second installment in the Taking trilogy.

Kyra hasn't been the same since she returned from her mysterious five-year disappearance. Now, on the run from the NSA, Kyra is forced to hide out with others who, like her, have been Returned. Yet she is determined to find Tyler, the boy she loves who was also abducted—all because of her. When her group intercepts a message that Tyler might still be alive but is in the hands of a shadowy government organization that experiments on the Returned, Kyra knows it's a risk to go after him. What if it's a trap? And worse, what if the returned Tyler isn't the same boy she lost?

Perfect for fans of The Fifth Wave and the Body Finder series, The Replaced is both chilling and explosive, with creepy, otherworldly elements and twisty, psychological thrills that will have you questioning what exactly it means to be human. (Goodreads)

The Replaced is the much anticipated follow-up to The Taking by Kimberly Derting. I was pretty excited to finally get my hands on this book, as I really enjoyed the first book, and after the cliffhanger ending that we were left with, I was curious to see what was going to happen next.

If you’ve not read the first book yet, read this review at your own risk. This review may contain some information that was in the first book, and may include a few spoilers as well. You’ve been warned!

The Replaced picks up just a few weeks after The Taking leaves off. Krya is still on the run from the NSA, and keeping a close eye out for Tyler, who was abducted all because of her. I like that Kyra is a lot more confident in herself in this book, even when she finds out some things about herself that she has a bit of a hard time dealing with. Unfortunately she has no other choice than to learn to deal with the way she is, and it’s something she does determinedly. I like this about her.

The secondary characters in the book are well written as well. A lot of the characters we know from the first book are in this book, and we get to know a lot of them even better. We are also introduced to some new characters as well; some of which are super interesting, and some you’re going to be super suspicious about.

The beginnings of a love-triangle seem to start in the book as well, and honestly, I’m not sure how I felt about it. I didn’t really buy the relationship, as it pretty much seemed a little forced on one side, and there really wasn’t any chemistry to me. I’m curious, though, to see what is going to happen with it.

The Replaced is full of twists and turns, some that you may see coming and some that will completely take you by surprise and leave your mouth hanging wide open. Like the first book, The Replaced ends with another cliffhanger. This one wasn’t as bad as the one in the first book, but it’s still left me wanting to know what in the world is going to happen next!!

Overall; I really enjoyed this sequel very much, and I’m super curious to get my hands on the next and final book in the series, which is currently without title and release date. But hopefully we know know more about it soon!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Review: The Taking by Kimberly Derting

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17838475-the-taking

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own? (Goodreads)

I’ve had a copy of The Taking to read for a while now, and I finally decided to start it today. What a great decision that was! I have read Derting’s Body Finder series, and The Pledge trilogy in the past, and really enjoyed them both. I couldn’t wait to get started on this book to see what new story Derting has in store for us. Let me just say this, you definitely will not be disappointed with this book!

Sixteen year old Kyra Agnew has a great life. She has two loving parents, an awesome best friend, and a boyfriend that adores her. And all that changes in a flash of white light. When Kyra wakes up one morning behind a dumpster, with no recollection of how she got there, she heads home only to find out that five years have passed. While she hasn’t changed at all, everything else in her life has. Her parents are now divorced, and her best friend and boyfriend have moved on with her lives. Nothing is the same anymore, except for Kyra. With the help of her ex-boyfriends brother, Tyler, Kyra sets out to discover what happened when she disappeared.

Poor Kyra, I can’t even imagine being in her situation. One minute she has it all, the next minute years have passed and she’s lost in a mess of confusion. But Kyra is a very headstrong young lady, and she was determined to figure out what had happened to her. And that’s exactly what she sets out to do with Tyler’s help.

Tyler was such a great character. He has definitely made the list of my most swoon-worthy characters. I love that even when he had no idea what to believe, he still believed in Kyra, and that he would do anything that he could to protect her. Not only did Tyler and Kyra make a great team, but they make a great couple as well. Seriously, I could cut through the romantic tension with a knife! Tyler was such a sweetie.

I am seriously kicking myself for not reading this book sooner. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. I ended up reading the book in one day, which was a bit surprising for me. Once I started reading, I was hooked. There is a LOT of action and suspense in the second half of the book, it was intense! I seriously couldn’t put it down, and was sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, waiting to see what was going to happen. The end of the book left me hanging a bit, so I’m dying to get my hands on the next book to see what is going to happen next!

Overall, if you are a fan of Derting’s already, you will definitely love the beginning of this awesome new series. If you’ve not yet read her work before, The Taking is a great place to start! Add it to your reading list today!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13574417-alienated

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet. (Goodreads)

I was super excited to read Alienated, as I had heard SO many great things about the book. I haven’t only read a few books about Aliens at this point, so I was looking forward to seeing what the author had in store for me. This book definitely did not disappoint.

Cara Sweeney and her family are one of the first on Earth to host an L’eihr exchange student, Aelyx. In exchange, Cara is pretty much guaranteed a scholarship to the college of her choice, along with firsthand ‘alien’ information for her blog to help with her upcoming career as a journalist. Hosting Aelyx for a few months should be easy, right? Unfortunately things don’t go exactly as planned for Cara when people in her community form a group, HALO, to protest against the exchange students and the alliance that they propose.

The two main characters in the story are absolutely wonderful. Cara was such an intelligent, sarcastic young lady. She took her role as host to Aelyx very seriously, even when it meant losing her friends and being shunned by everyone in her school and town. Aelyx was extremely fascinating and mysterious. I love all of the information we discover about him throughout the book, and even in the end, I wanted to know so much more about him and where he is from. I love that Cara grows on Aelyx and he basically becomes a completely different person than we meet in the beginning of the book. These characters are also so great together. The story is told from both Cara and Aelyx’s points of view. I loved this because it allows us to see inside of both characters minds.

The storyline for the book is super creative. Just imagine if there were other planets in the universe that wanted to exist with ours? How would our people react? I’m sure there would be a lot that would react the same way that the characters in the novel did. I found the book to be very well paced, it definitely hooked my attention and I was able to fly through the pages very quickly. There was a bit of suspense in the book as well, especially near the end which had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen next. Now that I’ve read this book, I would really love to explore more books with aliens as the main characters. I’m definitely hooked.

Overall; this book was an excellent read! I definitely recommend you checking it out as soon as you possibly can. I will be anxiously waiting to get my hands on the next book, Invaded, in February 2015!