#Review - Fat Cat by Rachel Vincent #Fantasy #Shifters

Series: Standalone
Format: Kindle, 371 pages
Release Date: April 17, 2023
Publisher: Rachel Vincent
Source: Amazon
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Off a two-lane highway outside of a southern Tennessee town you’ve probably never heard of stands a hole-in-the-wall establishment called the Fat Cat Bar and Grille. Drinks are served by a woman named Charley, who seems to hear things a little too well and see things a little too clearly. She might listen to your life story, but she won’t tell you a single word of hers.

The other thing she won’t tell you? That you have wandered into the only shifter-friendly bar in the country…

In the three years since I was infected, I’ve finally managed to put my life back together. The bar is actually turning a profit. That bad breakup is totally behind me. And as Marshal, I now run the northern zone of the Mississippi Valley Pride.

So when two fierce, gorgeous strangers accuse one of my regulars of killing a human woman—a charge he vehemently denies—I’m determined to get to the truth. With the victim’s brother in search of justice, the widower demanding brutal vengeance, and the fate of the entire “stray” Pride resting on the outcome of this case, I can’t afford to make a mistake.

But then my investigation unearths a shocking connection to a killer I put in the ground years ago, and I realize the cards were stacked against me before this game even began…

Rachel Vincent's Fat Cat marks the authors return to the world of the Shifters which I would recommend having some knowledge of before jumping into this story. This story follows Charlene (Charley) Studebaker who, along with her sister Davey, operate the Fat Cat Bar & Grille deep in the heart of the Mississippi Valley Pride zone run by Alpha Titus Alexander. Charley is the Marshall of the northern zone of Titus's region, and her word is law. It is her job to keep tabs on how many shifters live in the zone. 

All but two members are strays, which means they were illegally bitten by a werecat and managed to survive the infection. In this world, it is illegal for a werecat to infect a human and the penalty is always death for the transgressor. For Charley, she was bitten by Silas Morelock 3 years ago. Silas, like other werecats, have been trying to create more female werecats. Thankfully for Charley, she survived. Unfortunately, not many human women survive the infection and what happens next.

Which brings me to the point of the story. When two strays appear at the Fat Cat Bar, Austin Graham and Bishop Matheson and get into a brawl with one of the regulars, they claim that one of Charley's pack has done the unimaginable. He has murdered a woman that was a wife and sister to the two men. Charley also has a unique problem of her own. Her sister is human, and she is not supposed to know about the werecat world. Thankfully, she has the full support of Titus, as well as Charley's pride. 

Now, here's where it gets good. Faythe Sanders, the world’s first female Alpha, is still a badass, show up a few times in this book. She has a challenge for Charley that she seems to be perfect for. So, while Charley and her enforcers, including Vance Cooper, along with Bishop and Austin, who is a police officer, try to investigate who may have killed a young woman, Faythe seems to think she's found a way to balance the imbalance when it comes to the numbers of men vs females werecats. It may very well be a game changer if it works.

There are others who appear in this story as well including one Jace Hammond who, if you read Faythe's series, know that he's another badass who stands shoulder to shoulder with Charley. Titus Alexander is the Alpha of the Mississippi Valley Pride. It is his Pride that is filled with Strays who have been ignored by the main US Prides and the Council. Also mentioned are Robyn Sheffield, who was the first female stray before Charley was found. Abby Wade is Faythe's cousin, and she last appeared in a short story called The Hunt. And, of course, Kaci Dillon who I don't know much about since I didn't read Wild Card.

Although I would love to see another story in this world, especially after what happens in the final pages, I won't hold my breath or beg for a sequel. I really liked seeing Faythe again and urge readers of this review to go back to the beginning and see what she had to deal with before she became the first on only Female Alpha. 

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#Review - No One Is Alone by Rachel Vincent #YA #Contemporary

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Release Date: July 12, 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Social Themes

From a NYT bestselling author, a gripping story about a girl who learns she was born of an affair—and moves in with Dad’s “real” family.

High school junior Michaela is close with her single mom. Her dad only pops into her life on holidays; they barely know each other beyond surface obligations.

But then Mom dies suddenly, and Michaela is forced to move in with her dad . . . who reveals he's been married with kids all this time and she was the product of an affair. Before she can even fully grieve, she’s thrust into a strange house with three half-siblings, including Emery, also a junior, who is not thrilled at the prospect of sharing her room (and her life). Michaela needs to let go of everything she’s ever known . . . but will she ever find a home with this family that didn’t ask for her in the first place?

Rachel Vincent pens another gripping and emotional high school saga about the complexities of family, self-identity, and belonging.

Rachel Vincent's No One Is Alone shines the spotlight on 16-year old Michaela Rutherford. Michaela was cruising along, enjoying her life with her single mother (a neonatal nurse), a father that is a pop-up parent who mostly shows up around holidays and birthdays. She's lucky enough that her alleged father was good enough to pay child support so that Michaela and her mother can worry about other things instead of how they are going to pay the bills. 

Let's not sweep away the fact that Michaela is the result of a illicit affair between a married man, and her own mother who, no offense, should have known better than to trust the word of a married man. So, after her mother dies unexpectedly and horribly, Michaela's world upends in the worst ways possible. She has to leave all her friends behind, she has to leave her home behind, and everything she and her mother made together now has to be boxed up, sold, or donated. 

She learns quickly that not only does she have to go live with her father, Dr. Bosch who already has a family of his own. She now has two brothers (17) Gabriel, (12) Cody, and an older sister by months, Emery who hates the fact that she has to share a room with a girl who is the result of an illicit affair. It's not easy when she sharing a room with a sister she didn't know she had who happens to only be a few months older than her. Luckily, Gabe isn't so bad, and how can you not love Cody who is a gamer?

The title of the book is actually from a song by Stephen Sondheim from the musical Into the Woods which is performed towards the end of Act II as the piece's penultimate number. Why does this matter you ask? Because when Michaela arrives at her new school, she sees a poster for a play that her mother loved called Into the Woods. Her favorite song was No One Is Alone. And, with no hopes of getting a call back, Michaela picks up a script and starts singing to her mother who she misses terribly.

I gave Michaela a whole lot of room for anger, and sadness, and lashing out at people because of her mother's untimely and unnecessary death. I wish that she had reached out and asked for help or had time to properly grieve. There is a lot of drama from family dynamics to school that she has to deal with. Not everyone at her school has her best interest at heart and it’s easy to lose ourselves when grief is involved. Michaela also is her own enemy at times. When things get bad, she pulls out the dead mother card. When Emery warns her about a boy, she ignores the warning.

I wasn't expecting a large chunk of this book to be about Into the Woods, especially since Michaela had zero experience in the theater. There are some heart warming scenes between Michaela and the grandmother who has dementia. The whole family tried to distance themselves from the inevitable, while Michaela actually spent time with her and often encouraged others to make time which broke ice with her stepmother. 

The family dynamic is interesting, the problems the family faces are real, and each member is well-defined and relatable. I just wish that Michaela had looked some where else instead of the boy her sister broke up with recently.

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#Review - Every Single Lie by Rachel Vincent #YA #Contemporary #Mystery

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Contemporary

In this gripping YA novel, one girl’s discovery of a stillborn baby in her high school locker room will rock an entire community.

To avoid her grief over her father’s death months ago, Beckett has been obsessing over whether her boyfriend Jake is cheating on her. When following him one day at school, Beckett ducks into the girls’ locker room to avoid discovered. But Beckett is shocked to find the body of a newborn baby carefully wrapped up in an open gym bag—one she recognizes as Jake's.

Beckett soon finds herself embroiled in an investigation—led by her own police detective mother—into the identity of the baby and its parents. But as rumors swirl that Beckett herself is the mother, she vows to learn the truth, even if it could alter everything she thought she knew about the only family she has left. 

A page-turning thriller set in a small Southern community, this is a jaw-dropping, twisty must-read for fans of Sadie.

Rachel Vincent's Every Single Lie is a compelling mystery that has many half-truths and twists. It you are obsessed with Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, this is a book you should be reading. Every Single Lie challenges society and the way women and teenage girls are labeled and treated. 16-year old Beckett Bergan lives in a small town called Clifford, Tennessee and is a Junior at Clifford High School. Nobody in Beckett's life seems to be telling the whole story. Not her boyfriend Jake who keeps hiding texts and might be cheating on her. Not her father who lied about losing his job before his shocking death. 

But none of that compares to the day Beckett finds the body of a newborn baby (later called Lullaby Doe) in a gym bag on the floor of her high school locker room. After she calls it in, the case is given to her mother, Lieutenant Julie Bergen, their town’s police detective who hasn't exactly been attentive since her husband's death. Things spiral out of control when Beckett learns that it was her boyfriend’s gym bag the baby was wrapped in as well as her brother's T-Shirt. Then a mysterious Twitter account called the Crimson Cryer starts spreading rumors that it was Beckett’s baby.

As the media descends on the story, and her mother tries to determine if a crime was committed and who her family was, Beckett finds herself caught in the crosshairs. Social media trolls already determined that Beckett is guilty without being convicted of any crime. #BabyKiller they call her. She's the alleged pregnant teenager who dumped her baby in a high school locker room and went about her business. As the trolls come out of the woodwork, and misinformation spreads like wildfire, as it always does on Twitter and Facebook, Beckett discovers that everyone has a secret to hide and the truth could alter everything she thought she knew. 

Beckett's bullying is way different than people treat her boyfriend, Jake Mercer. Of course, Jake is a super-star baseball player who people would never consider to be more than perfect. It highlights the difference in how people treat young girls and women and the ongoing fight to bring actual women who have been abused to the forefront so abusers can be prosecuted. While the police investigate, Beckett starts her own investigation. Starting with questioning her boyfriend. Beckett is a really strong main character. While she is shaken by the bullying and harassment, which escalates to threats, she doesn’t back down. 

Nor is she afraid to challenge her friends and family to find the truth. The more she digs, the more she uncovers, and it’s not all pleasant. Between this, and the lies she discovers about her father's last few months before his death almost a year before, she is unsure of who to trust. Because by now, everyone is coming after her and she thinks the only way she can clear her name, and move on with her life, is to expose the truth. But what happens when the truth finally does come out? What happens when the truth is so shocking that I am unable to properly put into words my disgust at the revelation as to who was involved and why.

Beckett's family has major issues. Her mother started working more and more and is barely aware of what is happening in her own household. Her brother Penn is pushing himself hard in order to get into West Point and be better than his father who was also in the military. Beckett's younger sister Landry has become the person who puts food on the table. And, to make matters worse, even if Beckett proved without a reasonable doubt that she's never been pregnant, nor did she dumb the baby in a locker room, she's still going to feel the stigma of the trolls sickening behavior until she moves away or goes to college. 

I may have made some comments about Jake, but I have to tell you, he's not a bad guy. He really loves Beckett and didn't want to break her heart when he tells her what the reason for blocking the text messages from her was. No spoilers. Same with Penn. Penn may have basically checked out on the family and had one foot out the door, but I do believe he would do anything for his younger sisters. One of the most heartbreaking aspects of this story is the father figure Kyle Bergen. Kyle may have checked out before this story began, but his demons caught up to him, and I am not going to throw shade at a man who desperately needed help and suffered from PTSD.

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#Review - Fury (Menagerie #3) by Rachel Vincent (Urban Fantasy)

Series: The Menagerie Series (#3)
Format: Paperback, 336 pages
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Publisher: MIRA
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Urban

Told through two intersecting timelines, the grand finale to Rachel Vincent’s stunning Menagerie series will reveal the secret of how Delilah Marlow became a furiae just as she discovers what her true purpose is…


In 1986, humanity experienced The Reaping— a nationwide slaughter of six-year-old children by their parents—one of the country’s most horrific tragedies. What’s even more terrifying: the revelation that the few six-year-old survivors of the country’s greatest tragedy are now thought to have caused it. These aren’t the children their families believed they were. In truth, they were fae changelings brought home from the hospital in place of the real babies they were exchanged for. From that day forward, the world would never trust another cryptid. For if the fae were capable of such dark evil, surely all cryptid creatures posed a danger to humanity…


Now, Delilah Marlow and a rogue group of cryptids are on the run, having narrowly escaped the horrors of the Savage Spectacle, a private collection of "exotic wildlife” that specialized in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors. As they travel in search of lost family members and cryptid friends, Delilah struggles with the difficulties of pregnancy, complicated by the bitter memory of how her child was conceived.


Then one morning Delilah wakes up with dried blood all over her hands. Though she has no memory of it, she obviously went somewhere—and possibly killed someone—in her sleep. Soon, Delilah finds herself constantly pulled by the furiae, which she hasn’t felt stir within her in quite a while, but who she has no choice but to follow. As she is compelled to act of the furiae’s impulses, she’s beginning to realize that something much bigger is at stake. There is something connecting her victims, something more than the usual injustice she kills them for—and perhaps something as dangerous as another Reaping.

 

Fury is the third and final installment in author Rachel Vincent's The Menagerie series. The Menagerie series is a captivating blend of carnival magic and startling humanity, and this final book is an intricately woven and powerful tale about the fight for freedom and self-discovery. This series combines all the key elements (magic, mystery, fantastical creatures and an important quest). Told through two intersecting timelines, the grand finale to Rachel Vincent’s stunning Menagerie series will reveal the secret of how Delilah Marlow became a furiae just as she discovers what her true purpose is.

In 1986, 14-year old Rebecca Essing arrives home to blood and death. She is understandably shocked that her parents might have murdered her siblings in cold blood while leaving the youngest to live. Humanity just experienced The Reaping. A nationwide slaughter of children by their parents—one of the country’s most horrific tragedies. What’s even more terrifying: the revelation that the six-year-old survivors are now thought to have caused it not the parents. What's even worse, these aren’t the children their families believed they were. 

In truth, they were fae changelings brought home from the hospital in place of the real babies they were exchanged for. The world would never trust another cryptid. For if the fae were capable of such dark evil, surely all cryptid creatures posed a danger to humanity. Rebecca's story takes readers from the day of the Reaping, until the year 2000 when fate intersects with Delilah Marlow's history thanks to Rebecca's own actions which will have long lasting consequences. Rebecca's story is a mixture of shock, sadness, and darkness for which you can't measure with mere words.

2016, Delilah Marlow and a rogue group of cryptids (Lenore, Zyanya, Eryx, Gallagher, Genevieve & Rommily) are on the run, having narrowly escaped the horrors of the Savage Spectacle, a private collection of "exotic wildlife” that specialized in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors. As they travel in search of lost family members and cryptid friends, Delilah struggles with the difficulties of pregnancy, complicated by the bitter memory of how her child was conceived and Gallagher's desire for bloodshed.

Then one morning Delilah wakes up with dried blood all over her hands. Though she has no memory of it, she obviously went somewhere—and possibly killed someone—in her sleep. Soon, Delilah finds herself constantly pulled by the furiae, which she hasn’t felt stir within her in quite a while, but who she has no choice but to follow. As she is compelled to act of the furiae’s impulses, she’s beginning to realize that something much bigger is at stake.  This is where we learn why and how fate chose Delilah to be it's instrument. There is something connecting her victims, something more than the usual injustice she kills them for—and perhaps something as dangerous as another Reaping…

I have to say that both timelines are dark, filled with emotion, and you really can't put into words what both Rebecca and Delilah go through. You could, but you would be ruining it for other who haven't read this book yet. Rebecca finding out her sister wasn't her sister, Delilah learning that she may have a connection to the 1986 Reaping that left thousands dead, and a world changed forever. For me, Rebecca's timeline was the most appealing, until the final chapters which stay with Delilah, and Gallagher.  I am emotionally drained from reading the final chapters. I think the author was brave to choose this avenue, but at the same time, I wish things could have somehow managed to bring the two timelines together when all was said and done.

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#Review - Strange New World by Rachel Vincent #YALIT #Dystopian

Series: Brave New Girl # 2
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: May 8, 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Dystopian

In a world where everyone is the same, one girl is the unthinkable: unique. The second and final book in this high-stakes, fast-paced sci-fi series from New York Times bestselling author RACHEL VINCENT.

Dahlia 16’s life is a lie. The city of Lakeview isn’t a utopia that raises individuals for the greater good; it is a clone farm that mass-produces servants for the elite. And because Dahlia breaks the rules, her sisters—the 4,999 girls who share her face—are destroyed. She and Trigger 17, the soldier who risked his life for hers, go on the run, escaping into the wild outside the city walls. But it turns out Dahlia has one remaining identical, one who shouldn’t even exist.

Waverly Whitmore is teenage royalty, a media sensation with millions of fans who broadcasts her every move—including every detail of her wedding planning, leading up to the day she marries Hennessy Chapman. Waverly lives a perfect life built on the labors of clones like Dahlia. She has no idea that she too is a clone…until she comes face to face with Dahlia.

One deadly secret. Two genetic sisters. And a world that isn’t big enough for both of them.

Rachel Vincent's Strange New World is the second and final installment in the Brave New Girl duology. The story picks up right where Brave New Girl left off with the shocking meeting between what will become co-protagonists Dahlia 16, and 18-year old Waverly Whitmore. Since the story now alternates between the two characters, let's begin with Waverly. Waverly is known as the people's princess. She's got her own TV crew and millions followers who keep track of everything that she does, including her run up to her pending nuptials with Hennessy Chapman who she adores wholeheartedly.

Waverly also has two supportive parents and lives the a perfect life built on the labors of clones like Dahlia. She has no idea that she too is a clone…until she comes face to face with Dahlia. Waverly must face the truth about her own beginnings, her own choices, as well as that of her mother's before she is able to move forward and stand against the Administrator who knows her secrets. If you are looking for a character who grows the most, I would have to say that would be Waverly.  

For Dahlia, the big lie about all the things that she's been told, including the reason for Lakeview, is ready to bubble up and blow things wide open everyone. Dahlia is part of a group of 5,000 clones who all look alike and were made for a certain job. After Dahlia and Trigger escaped, Dahlia believes that all of her sisters have been destroyed which leads to questions as to why Waverly is still alive, and what makes her so special. In this world, there aren't supposed to be any individuals. There's not supposed to be conception by old ways any longer. Only by cloning. Or, so Dahlia was told.

Dahlia, who is really the original, not Waverly, and Trigger who is a special forces clone with superb understanding of technology, are supposed to be manufactured clones which are sold around the country as part of the Administrator's "business plan." The issue? All clones have an expiration date, except for Dahlia. The story really gets twisted when Dahlia accidentally gets Waverly's wedding day tattooed on her arm and has to pretend to be Waverly until the time when she is able to have it redone. 

Dahlia takes an unexpected stand against the treatment of clones which will definitely set things up for a really good ending to the series. Dahlia's stand opens the eyes of Waverly who goes from a spoiled princess, to someone who finally sees the world through the eyes of those less fortunate than herself. While Dahlia spent 16 years of her life in isolation from the outside world, Dahlia lived the American dream. As Waverly teaches Dahlia to be more like her so she can pass the public's scrutiny, she also begins to grow closer to a servant named Julienne and learns what Lakeview does to clones right before they send them out into the public for various uses. I'll admit. Dahlia definitely was the character who grew the most, and had to in order for this final installment to work. 

In the end, this is a entertaining finale with just the right mix of romance, action, suspense, and adventure. I think that I am still on the fence over the idea of using clones to work jobs that supposedly nobody else wants. Imagine a future where out of control corporations are allowed to clone as many workers as they want. Imagine that clones humans out of work forever. Would there be a resounding anger against this idea? Or, would society be happy that they no longer had to deal with low skill job sets? I dare say that I hope I am not alive when that day arrives.

With my foot tapping an impatient rhythm on the floor, I poke the air in the direction of the transparent screen covering the far wall of my bedroom. A clock appears in the center. It’s 12:08 a.m. Seren Locke’s birthday party has just ended, and my friends will be posting about it on their way home.

I flop back onto my bed. I’m not going to look. Only a loser would obsess over a party she missed.

For two whole minutes, I stare at the ceiling of my room. Then, with a groan, I give in and poke one of the icons on the screen. A long stream of messages covers my wall. To the left of each message is a photo of the person who posted it. Some of the messages are pictures. Others are short video clips, playing silently because I’ve disabled the sound; I don’t want to hear about all the fun my friends had without me.

My bedroom door slides open with a whisper, startling me, and I swipe my hand at the screen, closing the message stream. The e-glass fogs over, then becomes transparent again, showing the wall behind it, which is painted in subtle stripes of ivory and honey milk. Or, as my fiance describes the colors, white and a little less white.

“Knock, knock,” my father says from the doorway, though the door is open. I’ve set it to let him in but to keep my mother out. Of course, she can override the settings, but the fact that I want to keep her out is enough to make my point.

My dad doesn’t say anything, but he saw my screen. He knows I was secretly stalking my friends. “What, no camera crew today?” He glances around my room in mock disbelief as he steps inside, carrying a covered tray.

“What would be the point?” I get up, and the pink-and-white comforter smooths itself out, leaving a flawless, wrinkle-free finish. “Why would the world want to see me sitting here staring at the wall?”

He smiles as he sets the tray on my dresser. “The world wants to see everything ‘the people’s princess’ does.”

I shrug. I have fun playing princess on camera, but my father knows me like my followers and cyberstalkers never will.

“You know, we have servants to do that.” I lift my chin at the tray.

“I am aware. But when your daughter already has everything, sometimes the only thing left to give her is a personal touch.”

“That is so cheesy.” I roll my eyes, but I can’t hide my smile.

“Actually, it’s chocolaty.” He pulls the lid from the tray, revealing two steaming mugs of something divinely sweet-smelling. “Organic Swiss cocoa.”

“Mom’s cocoa?”

He nods. “First shipment of the season.”

Okay, yes, it’s just hot chocolate. Except that the cocoa beans this chocolate comes from are organically harvested from a farm overseas. Grown in actual dirt and watered by hand. Harvested by hand. Dried and processed by hand. Packaged by hand.

All that specialized labor makes the cocoa insanely expensive.

My mother has a cup with breakfast every morning.

“And .?.?.” My father lifts a smaller dome lid from an opaque glass bowl at the back of the tray. “Hand-cut chocolate-hazelnut marshmallows.”

“Does Mom know you dug into her stash?” I take a mug and use a tiny pair of tongs to drop two large, fluffy marshmallows into it. A glance at the thermostat on the side of the mug tells me it’s set to keep the contents at perfect sipping temperature.

“We’re celebrating. Let me worry about your mother.” My dad picks up his own mug, then settles into my desk chair as I sit on the edge of my bed. “I assume you’ve seen the ratings?”

“The second they were posted.” I consider a modest shrug, but modesty isn’t really my thing. So I give him a huge grin. “Highest viewership of a reality show ever recorded. The proposal episode broke the record.”

“My daughter, the most famous person in the world.” He takes a sip. “So why aren’t you swinging from the chandelier?”

I give him a look. He knows exactly why I’m sulking. How ridiculous is it that I am the single most valuable asset on network and I’m grounded?

“Waverly, are you really going to let one missed party overshadow the good news? Why wouldn’t she let you go, anyway?”

I tuck my legs beneath me on the bed and blow into my mug. “I honestly have no idea.” My father arches one brow at me, but I talk over his skepticism. “No, really. She just said I couldn’t go. No reason. She won’t even talk about it.”

“That’s strange.”

Normally, my mother is logical to a fault, but .?.?. “It’s like she has something against Seren. She grounded me last year on his birthday too.” I pluck a marshmallow from my cocoa and bite into it, frowning as I chew. “And she dragged us all on vacation during Sofia’s birthday party this year, remember? Maybe it’s not just Seren she doesn’t like, but the whole Locke family.?.?.?.”

“I think you’re reading a little too much into it,” my dad says.

“Or maybe it’s Seren and Sofia’s mother. The Administrator could creep anyone out.” I take the first sip from my mug. The cocoa is decadently sweet and creamy. The kind of thing I should be enjoying on camera.

“So why is missing this party such a tragedy, anyway? There’s still a cyber-blackout at Lakeview, right?”

My silent sip tells him more than actually answering would.

“Ah. That’s it,” he says. “What happens in Lakeview stays in Lakeview, right? Because of the blackout.”

There are only two parties a year in Lakeview—Seren’s birthday party and Sofia’s birthday party—and because the Lakeview compound is a digital dark zone, you can do whatever you want without worrying about video showing up online. While you’re there, it’s like you don’t really exist, except to the other people at the party. It’s liberating, in an oddly low-tech way.

At least, that’s what I’ve heard.

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#Review - Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent #YALit #Dystopian

Series: Brave New Girl # 1
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Release Date: May 9, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian

In a world where everyone is the same, one girl is the unthinkable: unique. A high-stakes fast-paced series launch from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent.

Dahlia 16 sees her face in every crowd. She’s nothing special—just one of five thousand girls created from a single genome to work for the greater good of the city.

Meeting Trigger 17 changes everything. He thinks she’s interesting. Beautiful. Unique. Which means he must be flawed. When Dahlia can’t stop thinking about him she realizes she’s flawed, too.

But what if Trigger is right? What if Dahlia is different? But if she’s flawed, then so are all her identicals. And any genome found to be flawed will be destroyed, ONE BY ONE BY ONE…

"We have brown hair. Brown eyes. Fair skin. We are healthy and strong and smart. But only one of us has ever had a secret."

Brave New Girl is the first installment in Rachel Vincent's Brave New Girl sci-fi young adult duology featuring Dahlia 16 as the main protagonist. In the City of Lakeview, Dahlia 16 sees her face in every crowd. The only way to differentiate one from the other is the name on the uniforms and bar codes on their wrists. Dahlia is nothing special; just one of five thousand girls created from a single genome to work for the greater good of the city. Her job is to grow veggies and she's really good at it. So good that her plants seem to do a whole lot better than anyone else's. 

Meeting Trigger 17 changes everything. He thinks she’s interesting. Beautiful. Unique. Which means he must be flawed. When Dahlia can’t stop thinking about him; when she can't resist looking for him, even though that means breaking the rules; she realizes she’s flawed, too. But if she’s flawed, then so are all her identicals. And any genome found to be flawed will be recalled. Destroyed. Getting caught with Trigger would seal not only Dahlia’s fate, but that of all five thousand girls who share her face. 

But what if Trigger is right? What if Dahlia is different? Suddenly the girl who always follows the rules is breaking them, one by one by one until she discovers a secret so shocking that I am not going to spoil it for you. I actually went into this book with a whole lot of pensiveness. I like this author, a lot, but I've had some issues with some of her past stories. I've heard from other reviewers how they love the world, and the enormous twist at the ending. 

But, you know what? The ending was pretty much self evident if you follow the crumbs the author leaves along the way. In fact, she pretty much hands you the answer on a silver platter if you pay attention to Dahlia's quirks and those she meets along the way. In this world, Geneticists have created clones in a lab and there were thousands of Dahlia's model created. They all have names corresponding to their future career (Dahlia = flower = gardening/growing produce) and the number signifies their age.

In this world, if you are different, there are consequences. Clones aren't supposed to have feelings or ideas of their own. They are supposed to say thank you for your service to anyone who is not within their group, and move on. Dahlia and Trigger make for an interesting pairing. She's a botanist, he's a soldier who has had special forces training. He's seen things that Dahlia would never have seen had she not met him and had her entire living twisted in a matter of moments.

This is actually a tale of two stories: the set up to the characters, and the one where all he action, suspense, and secrets are revealed in all their glory. It's pretty interesting being inside Dahlia's head as her world suddenly grows by leaps and bounds and everything she's been told, is now up for debate, if not totally wrong. I'll leave it there since the ending is a breath taking cliffhanger and I do plan on finishing this series once my library has purchased the sequel.

 

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Friday #Review - Spectacle by Rachel Vincent #Romance #Paranormal

Series: Menagerie # 2
Format: E-Galley, 
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Publisher: Mira
Source: NetGalley
Recommended By: 
Genre: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal

In this riveting sequel to New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent's acclaimed novel Menagerie, Delilah Marlow will discover that there is no crueler cage than the confines of the human mind…

When their coup of Metzger's Menagerie is discovered, Delilah and her fellow cryptids find their newly won freedom brutally stripped away as they are sold into The Savage Spectacle, a private collection of "exotic wildlife." Specializing in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors, the Spectacle's owner, Willem Vandekamp, caters to the forbidden fetishes of the wealthy and powerful. At the Spectacle, any wish can be granted—for the right price.

But Vandekamp's closely guarded client list isn't the only secret being kept at the Spectacle. Beneath the beauty and brutality of life in the collection lie much darker truths, and no one is more determined than Delilah to strip the masks from the human monsters and drag all dark things into the light.

Spectacle is the second installment in author Rachel Vincent's Menagerie series. The story picks up (3) months after Delilah Marlow and the rest of the cryptids from Metzger's Menagerie freed themselves via a nearly bloodless coup. Remember I said nearly bloodless. It really doesn't take all that long for things to go sideways. Especially when Willem Vandekamp and his Savage Spectacle (SS) sycophants show up show up at Metzger's and captures Delilah, and nearly everyone else. 

Savage Spectacle is a slap in the face for Delilah and the others who fought so hard to be free of their cages. Savage Spectacle is a place where they collar the cryptids with needles that can damage ones spine. They separate the cryptids into different categories, and put the females (shifters, anthropomorphs, sirens, Naga, nymphs, and Oracles) all together. There are zero children involved. They rent out cryptids to those who are into the kinky and can afford to pay. They strip them down, tell them how they can dress, what they are supposed to eat, and to top things off, they force hygiene adherence on everyone without any exceptions.

Vandekamp has created ways to keep cryptids in line. The collars can shock, paralyze, mute, and stop them from shifting. Vandekamp even uses entertainment as a lure for the rich and famous to enjoy themselves without worrying about the public finding out. He pits cryptids against each other in a coliseum like environment where they are forced to fight to the death. He uses the females for servers, and entertaining the rich men and women, while his wife doesn't just sit in the background being his partner in crime. 

Delilah is a unique character. No matter how hard Vandekamp or his sick and twisted wife Tabitha try, they can't get a fix on what Delilah's tell is. Readers know that Delilah is human, but if you missed it from Menagerie, then you also know that she has another side to her. A side that is the wrathful justice of vengeance. A side that is supposed to right the wrongs. Delilah really finds herself in a dark, twisted, and yes, vulgar situation where she is treated like an animal. But, she isn't the only one.

Vincent alternates her story through a few other characters as well. Characters such as Rommily (oracle), Vandekamp, and of course, Gallagher. I am not one who needs trigger warnings, or safe spaces to read this book. If you need that particular warning, then please avoid this book at all costs. I am one who acknowledges that a certain segment of our population is sick, twisted, and disturbed. Some may be our friends, or colleagues, or even our family members.

I recognize there are those who will jump up and down and claim this story parallels what Josef Mengele did at Auschwitz to the Jews, and therefore why Vincent uses the SS designation for the villains in this story. Are there situations that cross the line? Of course there are. Telling a story sometimes takes guts and the willingness to go where there are no safe spaces, or coloring books, or soft music playing in the background. Vincent's ending once again leads to yet another path in the already entertaining and brilliantly

written series. Delilah's determination to keep her family together is why I keep coming back to this series. She won't just walk away from anyone, or leave them behind. She will fight until her last breath if that is what it takes.

Previous Installment

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#Monday Review - 100 Hours by Rachel Vincent (#YA, #Contemporary, #Thriller)

Series: 100 Hours # 1
Format: E-Galley, 368 pages
Release Date: March 28, 2017
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: YA, Thriller, Contemporary

In this sexy, pulse-pounding new duology by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent, a decadent spring break beach getaway becomes a terrifying survival story when six Miami teens are kidnapped.

Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis’s entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami’s predictable social scene with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends. 

While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty—like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens. 
But paradise has its price. Dragged from their tents under the cover of dark, Genesis, Maddie, and their friends are kidnapped and held for ransom deep inside the jungle—with no diva left behind. It all feels so random to everyone except Genesis. She knows they were targeted for a reason. And that reason is her.

Now, as the hours count down, only one thing’s for certain: If the Miami hostages can’t thwart their captors’ plan, no one will make it out alive.
Tapping into our darkest fears while exploring issues of injustice, loss, and the courage to fight for what matters most, this thrilling read is perfect for fans of Nova Ren Suma, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Jennifer L. Armentrout.

100 Hours is the first installment in author Rachel Vincent's 100 Hours trilogy. This is definitely something new from Vincent who is known for series such as Soul Screamers, Shifters, Menagerie, & Wild Cats. 100 Hours is Vincent's debut into the contemporary arena. The story is about a group of Miami teenagers (Maddie, Genesis, Neda, Holden, Ryan, & Penelope) who travel to Columbia for Spring Break and end up being kidnapped by a group of terrorists. Vincent's story alternatives between cousins Maddie and Genesis who is heir to a shipping empire.

One could say that Genesis is a Mafia Princessa, while Maddie is the poor relation who, along with her brother Ryan, end up being dragged to hell and back thanks to an unwarranted and unnecessary diversion from one locale to another. One could, if they choose to, compare this book to Jersey Shore, but set in Columbia where you have to be a complete moron to believe that if you are rich, that people won't try to kidnap you, or use you for ransom. Have you people not heard of (FARC), or (ELN), or the Medellin Cartel? Sorry, got off topic for a moment. 

Genesis has been warned off of visiting Columbia for any reason by her father. So, instead of taking her friends to the Bahamas where they are supposed to go, she ignores all the warnings, and just waddles into a situation that will leave everyone's lives forever changed. Thanks for that Genesis! So, here we are traveling down a road where the friends jump feet first into underage drinking, cheating on each other, drugs, sex with whomever is next in line, and then, because things couldn't get any worse, they wander off to places where nobody has visited just because they can.

100 Hours is told not only in alternating narratives, but also in a countdown mode that starts from 100 hours to the final head to desk numerous times cliffhanger ending. While I actually prefer Maddie over Genesis, neither character could be considered stalwarts of society. They each have so many issues that at times, it wears the reader, me, down. It doesn't help that Genesis is arrogance personified, while Maddie carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. One could say that 15-year old Luke Hazelwood, geek, gamer, and puppy dog where Maddie is concerned, saves the story from being drowned in too much over compensation.

In a weird way, I am almost eager to read the next book in the series. Why, you ask? Because the final 1/3 of this book really explores the characters to a greater length and you get a better sense of what the author is trying to put forward. Yes, there are some shenanigans. You can't expect not to when you have a group of spoiled teenagers as your case. Yes, there are some interesting twists. Especially when it comes to Genesis. But, what makes me want to learn more, is what happens to the characters at the end of this book that needs further explanation. So, see you when book # comes out! 

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