Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

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.

Hadley Sullivan is en route to her father’s second wedding, celebrating his marriage to Charlotte, a woman Hadley’s never met before. The wedding is the last place Hadley wants to be and, almost as if the world understands this, she arrives to the airport just three minutes late, causing her to miss her flight. While she waits for the next plane to arrive, she meets Oliver, a British Yale student coincidentally occupying seat 18C, a mere seat over from Hadley’s 18A. Oliver is the perfect distraction — from the impending wedding and Hadley’s claustrophobia. He’s funny, charming, and sweet…and Hadley’s pretty sure she senses a romantic connection. But when their plane lands in London, Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other before she has a chance to say goodbye. All throughout the ceremony, Hadley can’t stop thinking about him. Then a shocking revelation forces her to actively seek him out, despite the limited information she has to go on.

With such an amazing synopsis, I thought I would instantly fall in love with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. And I probably would have if the synopsis was accurate. Or rather, if it weren’t quite so misleading. This book isn’t about Hadley and Oliver’s relationship and it isn’t about the idea of love at first sight. It is about Hadley’s broken relationship with her father. It exams divorce, infidelity, and parent-child relationships. These are all interesting issues and Jennifer Smith does a fantastic and thorough job exploring them, but going into the book, I wasn’t prepared for such heavy issues. As such, I was left feeling disappointed and a little morose. Even the ending wasn’t enough to cheer me up, especially since Smith does such a good job of portraying the effects of a broken marriage on an entire family that anyone who has experienced divorce in any capacity will be unhappily reminded of their own experiences.

Hadley Sullivan isn’t the most intriguing protagonist, but she’s likable and relatable. She reacts to her parents’ divorce as many teenagers do, but she’s a little ahead of the curve in that she blames her dad rather than his new fiance, which impressed me. Hadley is most interesting when she’s talking to Oliver, as he brings her out of her sullenness. Oliver, by comparison, is lively, witty, fun, and a little mysterious. He’s a huge part of the reason I even finished this book. I actually found his story far more intriguing than Hadley’s and wished we could have learned a lot more about him. Sadly, he only appears for what feels like a brief part of the book.

My main problem with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is that it provides a lot of back-story. The entire middle consists of tons of flashbacks, all the way to when Hadley was young and happy, up until the divorce. When not flashing back, we get to witness Hadley’s dad’s wedding, which — in my opinion — is a pretty dull affair. Charlotte is too perfect and all the conflict is resolved rather easily. Though Hadley grows as a person and character throughout the book, the growth (and her eventual forgiveness) seems kind of sudden and unwarranted.

I liked The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, but I didn’t love it. I think if I reread it knowing what it’s really about, I might like it better. Every scene involving Oliver was enjoyable and Hadley’s relationship with her dad is interesting enough. I’d just like to warn other readers that this is not the romantic, heart-pounding love-story it proclaims itself to be.

Pages: 236
Publication Date : January 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Challenge: N/A
Rating :

Teaser Quote: “‘Well,’ says the boy, propping his elbows on the table, ‘claustrophobia is nothing compared to mayo-phobia, and look how well you’re conquering that.’ He nods at the plastic knife in her hand, which is caked with mayonnaise and bread crumbs.“

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

A million souls exist in Range. Each year, these same souls are reborn into different bodies. Until the year Ana is born. No one knows Ana and she has never lived before. And her existence means someone has stopped existing: Ciana. The other souls resent Ana for taking the place of one of their friends, someone they’ve known for thousands of years, and they’re wary of Ana. Will she be reborn after this life? Is there any point in getting close to her without knowing for sure if she’ll remain a permanent fixture in their lives? Sam seems to think so, but in a world where every seems to hate her, Ana’s not sure she can trust Sam.

Incarnate is an incredibly interesting and unique idea. After reading it, I’m surprised reincarnation hasn’t been further explored. Meadows creates a fascinating world, but as fascinating as it is, I thought she could have taken it further. She raises so many questions throughout the novel and some of the big reveals feel kind of disappointing and rushed. Everything about Incarnate is so new and the entire world is especially new to Ana, making her a perfectly relatable protagonist. She’s insanely curious, which should be beneficial for the reader. But as Ana searches for answers she doesn’t find until the very end, the suspense and sense of mystery keep building and building, leading up to a huge revelation. While the revelation is unpredictable, I just expected more from it.

One thing I really appreciate about Incarnate is the way Meadows makes you question everything and everyone. Ana is a naturally distrustful character, for good reasons, so it takes a lot for her to open up to people. Sam and his friends work hard to really earn Ana’s and our trust. Then Meadows manages to sweep the carpet out from under all of us, making us doubt everything we learn about the characters. It’s so rare that I feel that unsure, that I have no idea where the plot is going, and I commend Meadows for being able to surprise me so much.

There’s a lot to like about Incarnate. Every aspect of the novel is refreshing. The world of Range, and specifically the city of Heart, is a breath of fresh air, with it’s new traditions, customs, and overall different way of life. The mystery surrounding sylph still plagues my mind and the small portion of science behind the reincarnation piques my curiosity. The story incorporates its own new religion and raises questions about faith and belief. Basically, its a book that really makes you think, even after you finish it. If you’re growing wearing of vampires, angels, and the typical paranormal romances, then don’t hesitate to pick up Incarnate, as it’ll offer something you probably haven’t seen before.

Pages: 384
Publication Date : January 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Challenge: Debut Author
Rating :

Teaser Quote: “I desperately wanted to be someone else for a while, and for no one to know who I was. What I was. Nosoul.”

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld… this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s…

Nikki Beckett spent one hundred years with Cole in the Everneath, the equivalent of six months in the real world. At the end of her hundred-year sentence, Nikki chooses to return to the surface for her remaining six months, at the end of which she will either be swallowed by the Tunnels, which will siphon her emotions for the rest of her life, or she can choose to return to Cole and become an Everliving, meaning she’ll have to Feed off of others the way Cole Fed off of her to survive.

Nikki has accepted her fate in the Tunnels. She only returns to the surface to make things right with her family and see, for one last time, the face of the boy who kept her alive while she was in the Everneath: her ex-boyfriend, Jack. But Nikki soon realizes that simply seeing him isn’t enough, especially since Jack’s so desperate to hang on to Nikki now that she’s back in his life.

I surprised myself by loving Everneath. This book provides a love triangle that makes me remember why I love love triangles. Jack is the boy every girl dreams about for her first boyfriend. He and Nikki have been friends since they were little and it took Nikki a long time to realize she might like him as more than a friend. It took Jack even longer, as he was known as sort of a player throughout their high school. But when they finally end up together, they’re obviously a perfect fit. Everneath is told from alternating chapters of the past and present, before and after Nikki’s time spent in the Everneath. Though we catch glimpses of Nikki and Jack’s friendship before their relationship, I wish we had seen more. But what we do see is adorable and completely “aww”-worthy. It’s so refreshing to see two characters that know each other so well and that bring out the better qualities in each other — you know, like in a real, natural, positive relationship.

Speaking of real and natural, all the characters in Everneath are supremely realistic. Nikki is the protagonist I’ve been waiting for — intelligent, flawed, conflicted, strong. I can’t stop thinking about how realistic all of her actions are and how I’d probably make a lot of the same decisions as her if I were in her place (not always the best decisions, but the ones that seem to be right at the time). She stands up for herself and tries to make the best of her circumstances, despite the fact that doing the right thing is always the hardest, in her case. She’s also a genuinely good person, with pure intentions and a clear moral compass. Basically, she’s a really likable person and an admirable heroine.

Everneath‘s plot is both unique and familiar. A lot of ancient myths are incorporated, specifically the myth of Persephone and Hades, as well as Orpheus and Eurydice. For mythology lovers like myself, it’s always fun to see myths included with a modern spin. But then Brodi Ashton goes even farther, providing us with the intriguing plot of the Everneath, the Everliving, and the Tunnels. Ashton reveals clues about this world she’s created sparingly, ratcheting up the senses of suspense and mystery. Most of Everneath is completely unpredictable, which meant the closer I came to the ending, the more anxious I felt. I couldn’t tell how things were going to play out and the ending left me heartbroken, though hopeful and pacified enough to wait for the sequel. As long as it’s not too long of a wait.

Everneath is a book that will make you feel, that will leave you conflicted…in the best possible ways. Cole is the villain and at times, you’ll hate him, but there are also some moments you’ll feel twinges of sympathy for him. You’ll want Jack and Nikki to be together, but you’ll also want what’s best for Jack, and that just might be staying away from Nikki. But even though Nikki made one supremely bad decision, she’s still a good person and she deserves happiness too, right? If you’re looking for a lovable, complicated, paranormal page-turner, don’t hesitate to dive right into Everneath. You won’t regret it.

Pages: 370
Publication Date : January 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Challenge: N/A
Rating :

Teaser Quote: “I closed my eyes and pictured the boy with the brown hair, and as I took in my first really deep breath of Surface air, a name to match the face came to me. A name I’d been trying to cling to for a century.“