The Bursting Bookshelf

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she’s prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever.

After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust—her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them.

In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone—there are others out there just like her—people with special powers—and her mother’s killer is one of them…

Review:
I had seen Hunting Lila on Goodreads previously and had really wanted to read it, it sounded right up my alley, piquing my interests. When I got offered to review this book by the Canadian publisher, I couldn't pass up the amazing opportunity, I read it soon after receiving it. I am very pleased to say that it did live up to my expectations and hopes.

Looking at the cover, I immediately noticed that Lila was clearly running away from someone or something. I also noticed the use dull colors in the room, allowing her bright red heals and blue dress to really pop on the cover, perhaps as a metaphor that she is something out of the ordinary. The other aspects of the cover I loved were the rough, worn looking font of the title and the tagline for the book; "You can't hide from the truth". If the cover wasn't enough to draw potential readers in, that line will do it.

Alex was my favorite character of the book; all he did was care and protect the ones he loved, and he wasn't quick to make judgement on others. Lila was enjoyable for the most part, but I did find her to be a little too obsessive and trusting at some points. She was 'in love' with Alex and thought about him all the time, and after a while it was really starting to get to me. The other characters in this story that I really enjoyed were Jack, Suki and, surprisingly, Demos. For being set up initially as the 'bad guy' Demos had surprisingly high morals, as did the rest of his ensemble.

One of the few weak parts of this book was the plot. It was entertaining enough, but it could get highly predictable, taking away the element of surprise and shock. Even though it was predictable, the end still makes me want to read the next book now, to find out the fates of the characters. The writing was great; it grabbed the reader with it's attention to details, never letting anything slip, even minor things. This attention to detail made it easy for me to paint a clear picture in my head of what was happening in the book.

After finishing Hunting Lila, I now need the next book in the series now, I must find out what happens to everyone! But until I get that opportunity, I would recommend Hunting Lila to anyone in need of a fascinating paranormal YA book. I give Hunting Lila a 4/5.

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.


Review:
Needless to say, this novel got some serious hype online. I hesitated to pick it up though because of reluctance to be disappointed after everyone else loved it. I read it and found myself to quite like it, but maybe not to the extent that many others did. Starting on the positives of the book, the characters were great. I quite enjoyed Ember because she didn't just accept her fate, she took it into her own hands to make a better life for herself, showing her to be a strong young woman. Chase was even more intriguing to read about because he starts off as Ember's memory of the boy next door, changes into a military drone, not showing emotion to finally becoming a mix of his previous two egos. He was much more serious than the first, but much more loving than the second. There weren't too many secondary characters that were featured the entire way through, they came in and out as Chase and Ember continued to run away.

Another thing I loved about this book was the writing. It used the gritty style that often makes dystopians what they are, but it also worked well for the romantic scenes within. The one part of this book I didn't enjoy as much was certain parts of the plot. Most of the time I read it, I was hooked into the story, not wanting to put it down, but then there were also a few times that it took a very strange turn that I didn't really enjoy. The end was a redeeming factor, making me really want the next book now. Altogether, I would definitely recommend that fans of YA and dystopian books read this one. I give Article 5 and 4/5.

Amanda Hocking is an indie publishing sensation whose self-published novels have sold millions of copies all over the world.  Step into the world of the Trylle, and prepare to be enchanted….

When Wendy Everly first discovers the truth about herself—that she’s a changeling switched at birth—she knows her life will never be the same. Now she’s about to learn that there’s more to the story…

She shares a closer connection to her Vittra rivals than she ever imagined—and they’ll stop at nothing to lure her to their side. With the threat of war looming, her only hope of saving the Trylle is to master her magical powers—and marry an equally powerful royal. But that means walking away from Finn, her handsome bodyguard who’s strictly off limits…and Loki, a Vittra prince with whom she shares a growing attraction.

Torn between her heart and her people, between love and duty, Wendy must decide her fate. If she makes the wrong choice, she could lose everything, and everybody, she’s ever wanted…in both worlds.

Review:
Yet again, I found myself wishing I had read this series much earlier. Torn picks up where Switched ends; with Wendy at home after leaving the Trylle behind along with her responsibilities too. Among the features I greatly enjoyed of this book, there were also a few that I didn't enjoy nearly as much. For starters, I found it highly unrealistic that the Vittra would leave her so pathetically guarded that she would be able to walk out like that. Loki was also frustrating as he lacked the substance that I had hoped for, seeming to instantly fall for Wendy which is a massive pet peeve for me. The positive parts of this book were the great writing, good story (at times), and the characters. The story could get rather annoyingly slow at times and Wendy wasn't utilized well to speed up the story. On the note of Wendy, she was frustratingly single minded, she didn't stop to think of others very often until the very end of the book. Finn lost a lot of appeal for me as well, he lacked the substance saw in him before, he became much more docile than before. In the secondary characters, there were quite a few that were amusing and fun, I enjoyed them more than the main characters. The writing was my favorite part of the book, it was just as good as in Switched and it one of the major features that keeps me coming back to Amanda Hocking's books.

The ending wasn't all that shocking to me, it was fairly predictable and easy to figure out. Will I be reading the next book? Yes, but mainly because I have it ordered and I would like to know the conclusion of the story. Overall, I'd recommend this book to someone looking for a light, quick read or who have read the first book in the series. I give Torn a 3.5/5.