Title: Fever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #2)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Published: February, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Pages: 341
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago – surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous – and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion… by any means necessary.

Final Thoughts: Last year’s debut, Wither, absolutely blew me away, so when I went into Fever I was expecting greatness. Unfortunately, the second novel in The Chemical Garden series does not live up to the first. It wasn’t until the last third of the book that I really started to embrace it. Still, it’s a worthwhile read if you enjoyed the first installment.

Title: Night Beach
Author: Kirsty Eagar
Published: May, 2012 by Penguin AU
Thanks: NetGalley / Penguin AU
Pages: 324
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Imagine there is someone you like so much that just thinking about them leaves you desperate and reckless. You crave them in a way that’s not rational, not right, and you’re becoming somebody you don’t recognise, and certainly don’t respect, but you don’t even care. And this person you like is unattainable. Except for one thing… He lives downstairs.

Abbie has three obsessions. Art. The ocean. And Kane. But since Kane’s been back, he’s changed. There’s a darkness shadowing him that only Abbie can see. And it wants her in its world.

Final Thoughts: I’ve wanted to read one of Kirsty Eagar’s books for so long – and I was thrilled when I got the opportunity to try out Night Beach. It’s a creepy, unsettling read with a strong, Australian style. I only wish that I wasn’t left feeling utterly confused and disorientated upon closing the last page!

Title: Clarity (Clarity #1)
Author: Kim Harrington
Published: February, 2011 by Point
Pages: 256
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Clarity “Clare” Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It’s a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare’s ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case — but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare’s brother — who has supernatural gifts of his own — becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Final Thoughts: What a surprising little book! At just 250 pages, Clarity is a read you’ll be able to finish in one sitting. With a fast-paced murder-mystery and a realistic and likeable heroine, the book proves itself as one of the better YA psychic-versus-mystery stories!

Title: Temptation (Temptation #1)
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Published: July, 2012
Thanks: Harlequin Teen, AU
Pages: 304
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Your heart misleads you. That’s what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadow View, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other’s arms. It should be Rose & Noah forever, easy. But it won’t be. Because he’s Amish. And I’m not.

Final Thoughts: I was so torn on what to rate this book. On the one hand, Temptation was a book I could absolutely not put down from start to finish. From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked. But, somewhere around the halfway mark, the main characters became extremely infuriating and the feminist part of me was ready to go on a rampage with the decisions that were made by our leading lady, Rose, and the possessiveness of our male lead, Noah.
Spoilers in full review!

Title: Fated (Fated #1)
Author: Sarah Alderson
Published: January, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Thanks: Simon & Schuster, AU
Pages: 320
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

What happens when you discover you aren’t who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray – is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.

If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?

Final Thoughts: It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy Fated, because it was a pleasant enough read, it was just that it felt like I had read this book before. My main gripes were most notably with the main character, Evie, and the way-too-early ‘love’ connection between her and the half-Shadow Warrior, Lucas. Sarah Alderson has a great writing style, however, and that made all the difference when it came to finishing the book.

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Published: February, 2012 by Headline
Thanks: Hachette, AU
Pages: 215
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

Final Thoughts: I was so torn on rating this one, because while I really enjoyed The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, there simply wasnt enough. I loved the characters and the cute little romance, but the book itself was too short for me to get as invested as I would’ve liked!