Andye Reads

I recently read *ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. You may have already heard of this book, as everyone seems to be RAVING about it. But I thought I should just give you my thoughts, and a little caution before you decide to drop the big bucks on this one. THE 5 BIG PROBLEMS WITH ILLUMINAE  by Andye 1. The cover. Ok, yeah. The cover is freaking amazing. The problem, though, is that when you take off the dust-jacket, the naked book is JUST AS AMAZING . Or maybe more amazing, I don't even know. So, what am I supposed to do? Display it with the jacket on? Or off? How am I supposed to pick? Switch it back and forth every other day? And where do I put the jacket on the off days? It's going to get crinkled! So now I have to buy TWO copies, just so I don't have to stress out about this. Rude, Random House. Rude. 2. People are bothering me about it.  This goes along with problem #1. I took Illuminae with me to my son's baseball game so I could ...

Alice in Zombieland Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Harlequin Teen (September 25, 2012) Language: English Buy the book: Amazon She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever. Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone. Her father was right. The monsters are real. To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies. At a Glance: I've been staring at this book, for some time now, on my bookshelf. I really have to be in a certain mood to read about zombies. When I di...

The Maze Runner (Book 1) Age Range: 12 and up Grade Level: 7 and up Series: The Maze Runner Series (Book 1) Paperback: 375 pages Publisher: Delacorte Press; Reprint edition (August 24, 2010) If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone. Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive. Everything is going to change. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying. Remember. Survive. Run. Thomas wakes in a box with no memory of his past, only his name. He is welcomed into the Glade by a group of boys who call themselves, the Gladers. Every last one of them woke up in the Box with no memory, just like Thomas. It's been two years since the first of ...

"Review My Books" Review by Emily @ Books & Cleverness DARK METROPOLIS by Jaclyn Dolamore File Size: 1429 KB Print Length: 304 pages Publisher: Disney Hyperion (June 17, 2014) Goodreads | Amazon Sixteen-year-old Thea Holder's mother is cursed with a spell that's driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. With no one else to contribute, Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules. Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, and he agrees to help her uncover the city's secrets—even while he hides secrets of his own. Together, they find a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. And if they're not careful, the heartle...

Age Range:  18 and up  Grade Level:  12 and up Series:  A Farm Novel Paperback Publisher:  Berkley Trade (November 4, 2014) Language:  English ISBN-10:  0425275884 ISBN-13:  978-0425275887 Pre-Order The Vault: Amazon In a world where vampires rule and teenaged humans are quarantined as a food source, there is only one choice—resist or die. But fighting the vampires comes at a terrible cost to twin sisters Mel and Lily and their best friend Carter . . .  With Lily exposed to the vampire virus and lying in a coma, it’s up to Mel and Carter to search for the cure. Time is not on their side. With every passing heartbeat, Mel is becoming more and more purely vampire. Desperate, Carter and Mel decide to split up. Carter will recruit human rebels from the Farm in San Angelo to infiltrate the guarded kingdom of the vampire Sabrina and steal the cure. Mel will go back to her mentor, her friend, her betrayer, Sebastian, wh...

Hardcover:  368 pages Publisher:  Atria Books; Sgd Ltd edition (October 1, 2013) Language:  English ISBN-10:  1476763518 ISBN-13:  978-1476763514 Buy the book: Amazon Listen to the book: Audible When the world ends, can love survive? For Scarlet, raising her two daughters alone makes fighting for tomorrow an everyday battle. Nathan has a wife, but can’t remember what it’s like to be in love; only his young daughter Zoe makes coming home worthwhile. Miranda’s biggest concern is whether her new VW Bug is big enough to carry her sister and their boyfriends on a weekend escape from college finals. When reports of a widespread, deadly “outbreak” begin to surface, these ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances and suddenly their fates are intertwined. Recognizing they can’t outrun the danger, Scarlet, Nathan, and Miranda desperately seek shelter at the same secluded ranch, Red Hill. Emotions run high while old and new relationships are tested in...

AUDIOBOOK In the After By Demitria Lunetta Narrated By Julia Whelan Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins Scheduled Release Date: 06-25-13 PUBLISHER Harper Audio Buy the Audio Buy the Book Attack. Not isolated. Fate of Americans: unknown. Amy is watching TV when the world is attacked by Them. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to survive - and even rescue "Baby" - a toddler she finds in an abandoned supermarket. Then, after years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream, with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she'll lose Baby - and much more.   At a Glance: In the After was a fantastically intense post-apocalyptic thriller.   When zombie-like aliens invade the world, eating their way through humanity...

AUDIOBOOK Reboot UNABRIDGED By Amy Tintera Narrated By Khristine Hvam PUBLISHER Harper Audio Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins Release Date: 05-07-13 Buy the audio: Audible Buy the book: Amazon Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes, she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now 17 years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation). Wren's favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie - Callum Reyes - is the worst she's ever seen. As a 22, Callum is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he's always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet, he's still her newbie. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line...

Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Balzer + Bray (May 7, 2013) Language: English ISBN-10: 0062201808 ISBN-13: 978-0062201805 Buy the book on Amazon It happened on Halloween. The world ended. And a dangerous game brought it back to life. Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks. In the rural mountains of West Virginia—armed with only their rifle and their love for each other—the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of "Bellows"—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good. But The Game is changing. The Bellows are evolving. The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don't play by the rules. And the brothers will never be the same. T. Michael Martin's debut novel is a transcendent...

The Archived Book #1 by Victoria Schwab Reading level: Ages 12 and up Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (January 22, 2013) Mark on Goodreads Buy on Amazon Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive. Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive. Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder abou...

Hardcover: 192 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (October 16, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 031621440X ISBN-13: 978-0316214407 Buy the book on Amazon When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke-- but even if it isn't, he figures, it's ok to lose a few Irish. B doesn't fully buy into Dad's racism, but figures it's easier to go along with it than to risk the fights and abuse that will surely follow sticking up for Muslims, blacks, or immigrants. And when dodging his fists doesn't work, B doesn't hesitate to take the piss out of kids at school with a few slaps or cruel remarks. That is, until zombies attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers. Review At a Glance: Ever since I realized that zomb...

Reading level:  Ages 13 and up Hardcover:  400 pages Publisher:  HarperTeen (July 24, 2012) Language:  English ISBN-10:  0062083260 ISBN-13:  978-0062083265 Buy the book: Amazon There's something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia. . . . Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she's just read in the newspaper: The Dead are rising in Philadelphia. And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor . . . from her brother. Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she'll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet h...