The Eslites by C.M. Doporto
January 2nd, 2013
My Rating:  

The Eslites is about Miranda Mays who is recruited by an alien race known as the Eslites as she is a superior donor, and it is these donors that are required to help this non-human race from extinction. It is a quick short story, but I feel it was incomplete; it felt like there was much more to it that needed to be told. If it were a full novel I’d be intrigued. The Eslites shows potential as it gradually develops into a paranormal-based story from its science fiction set beginning despite the length of it. A nice introduction.

Thanks to C.M. Doporto for a copy to review.

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The Search for Sam by Pittacus Lore
December 26th, 2012 by HarperTeen
My Rating:  

The Search for Sam is the fourth novella of Pittacus Lore’s Lorien Legacies: The Lost Files, which continues Adam’s (or Adamus’s) adventure after he was nearly killed and abandoned by his father at the end of the third novella, The Fallen Legacies. We follow his living in Africa (where Swahili is spoken – Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda – there somewhere), back to the Mogadorian estate and his home, and through to the army base in Mexico in which we were introduced to in The Rise of Nine as Adam resists against his race’s endeavours and save the Garde. Along the way we learn the whereabouts of Sam’s father as well as Sam himself. It was nice to see Sam appear again since he’s my favourite character in the series. As I said with the previous novella, the next instalment of the Lorien Legacies is sure to be a game changer with the professional debut of Adam in the series and I’m looking forward to seeing him interact with the Garde members he has yet to meet.

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Shadow Days by Andrea Cremer
December 10th, 2012 by Philomel
My Rating:  

Shadow Days follows Shay as he moves to his uncle’s (Bosque Mar’s) mansion in Vale, leading up to that bear attack which begins the events of the Nightshade trilogy. It was great to read from Shay’s POV and learn a bit about him before we meet him in Nightshade through the eyes of Calla. It was quick with Andrea Cremer’s signature writing and lines such as, ”Several hours of reading about Katniss Everdeen’s problems made me decide my life was pretty damn good.” However, it was pretty much filled with things we already knew and so much of the discoveries by Shay within the mansion weren’t that big. Still, it was a nice read and gave me another reason to return to Cremer’s world.