The Taking by Kimberly Derting

Book: The Taking (The Taking #1)
Author: Kimberly Derting
# of Pages: 357 (hardcover)
Challenge: 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
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?

My Thoughts:

This book was so freaking amazing! I loved everything about it.

Kyra has been gone for five years even though for her it only feels like a few hours. Everything she knew has changed and she is forced to accept these changes. Kyra is pretty tough and does a good job of keeping it together considering her life has turned upside-down. Tyler is the only person she can confide in. He's sweet and patient and does everything he can to help Kyra figure out what happened to her.

This book is full of non-stop action and suspense. I could not put it down! And with an ending like that...it has left me pining for the next book. I'm counting down the days until April 28.

In Time by Alexandra Bracken

Book: In Time (The Darkest Minds #1.5)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
# of Pages: 76 (ebook)
Challenge: 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Gabe's life has been devastated in the wake of the economic crash. The only option left for someone like him to escape his tragic past is to leave his small town behind and to attempt to become a skiptracer. This already almost impossible task is made all the more difficult by his first score, a young girl who won't speak, but who changes his life in ways he could never imagine.

My Thoughts:

I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it either. It was fast-paced and entertaining. And I liked that Zu made an appearance, because she was one of my favorite characters from The Darkest Minds. While it was interesting getting to know Gabe, I wish the story would have been told from Zu's perspective.  It did have a semi-cliffhanger ending, so it will be interesting to see how it plays into the next book in the series.

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Book: Better Off Friends
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
# of Pages: 188 (ebook)
Challenge: 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Summary:
For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

My Thoughts:

This was a cute story and I like how it was told through both Macallan's and Levi's persectives, but overall I thought the book was just okay.

Macallan got on my nerves at times. She was a drama queen and there was a time or two when I just didn't understand why she did or said something. I really liked Levi and enjoyed getting to see things from his point of view.

Unfortunately, there was nothing about this book that made it stand out from others like it.

Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Book: Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2)
Author: Jennifer Estep
# of Pages: 220 (ebook)
Challenge: 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 2.5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword... 

My Thoughts:

I just didn't like this book that much.

The first six chapters were mostly about what happened/what was revealed in the first book. Again I was frustrated with Gwen. While she is determined to prove herself worthy of Mythos Academy, she also makes a lot of careless decisions.

Most of what happens in this book was predictable, and again I preferred the other characters to Gwen. While I did not like this book as much as I hoped I would, I will contiue on with the series. Though it may be a while before I read the next book in the series.

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Book: Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)
Author: Jennifer Estep
# of Pages: 217 (ebook)
Challenge: 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy; a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why; especially since I should have been the one who died... 

My Thoughts:

While I did find this to be a very interesting book, I had mixed feelings about it.

For the first half or so of the book the protagonist, Gwen, seriously annoyed me to the point where I just wanted to shake her. She kept going on and on and on about how she didn't have any friends. She must have said it at least sixty times! It was so frustrating having to read it over and over again. There were a lot of other things that were repeated throughout the story as well.

I did like the concept of the story, as well as Mythos Academy itself with all the various mythological warriors who attend it. I really liked Daphne. There were times when I kind of wished she was the protagonist instead of Gwen. The love interest, Logan, is amusing, mysterious, and has secrets. I am very curious to learn more about him.

I am hoping that as the series continues, I will like Gwen more.

January Wrap-Up & Book Haul

Books Read in January:

Vicious by Sara Shepard - 4.5 stars

A Million Suns by Beth Revis - 4.5 stars

Impostor by Jill Hathaway - 5 stars

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg - 3 stars

The Taking by Kimberly Derting - 5 stars

The Blue-Haired Boy by Courtney C. Stevens - 3 stars

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann - 4 stars

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep - 3.5 stars
Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep - 2.5 stars

Book Haul

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Undivided by Neal Shusterman
I Was Here by Gayle Forman