The Only Girl in Town

 

by Ally Condie

This is a beautifully written book that I absolutely loved until the very end. So much suspense, so much fun with the main character's awesome cat, a love story, a friendship story, an ode to running, and more. So much potential. I loved the short chapters and alternating timelines. But the ending was a little disappointing. I enjoyed the reading experience so much, but certainly wish there had been more.

Nemesis

by Brendan Reichs

Every other year, on her birthday, Min is murdered by a man in a black suit. It's always a horrible, painful death, but each time, she wakes up unscathed. She takes crazy pills, goes to therapy, and tries to overcome the fact that no one seems to believe this is really happening to her. But then she realizes that she might not be the only one suffering from this strange experience. As she digs deeper, she begins to uncover long-buried secrets that might get her killed. For real this time.

This is a fast-paced thriller with lots going for it. You'll really want to know what's going on with Black Suit. Min is a fun character--much more believable than a lot of female protagonists in this type of YA fiction these days.

Enclave

by Ann Aguirre

Deuce lives in College Enclave, an underground society that has formed in what's left of New York City's subway system in a dismal future. Life expectancy caps out at around 25 due to poor nutrition and the great likelihood of disease. People have specific functions: breeders produce and care for children, and the hunters provide the meat (most likely rats). They also protect the others from the Freaks--humanoid creatures with sharp claws and teeth that eat human flesh. For years those in the Enclave have survived this way, but the Freaks, once mindless eaters, seem to be getting smarter. The Enclavers can no longer feel safe in the tunnels. When an unfortunate event forces Deuce topside, she begins to see there's a world outside of what she's always known, but it's not much safer than the one she hails from.

This is the first in a trilogy, and I haven't decided yet if I'll go on, which I guess means I probably won't. The first half of this story was awesome. I loved the underground world-building. But once she took us topside, the plot lost steam, and the world was not nearly as well thought out. A fun read that I think a lot of you guys will like, but there are far better out there in this overcrowded genre.

The Shade of the Moon

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is definitely the weakest of the four books, but it's great to see what happens to everyone. Pfeffer doesn't pull any punches--this one is a real heartbreaker.

This World We Live In

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

In this third installment, Julie and Alex have hooked up with Miranda's dad and stepmom. They've been traveling together, and Hal brings them all home to stay with Miranda and her mother and brothers. The Evans kids grow up fast in this book, and a lot of loose ends are tied up. I don't want to be a spoiler, so I'll leave it at that!

The Dead and the Gone

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I'm not sure what it is about these books that I find so appealing. It's not like they're great works of literature. It's not like I don't see the flaws in the stories, because I do. It's just that I enjoy them way too much to not give them great reviews.

This is the same time frame as Miranda's story in Life As We Knew It, told from the perspective of a Puerto Rican boy living in New York City. Alex Morales has everything going for him--a great family, a scholarship to a Catholic private school, and good odds of getting into Georgetown for college. When an asteroid hits the moon, and his parents don't come home, he's left to care for his two sisters alone. Many of his struggles are the same as Miranda's were, but just because you know the volcanic ash is coming for Alex, you don't feel for him any less. Fascinating, terrifying, gut-wrenching, and heart-breaking, these books are like a train wreck--you just have to keep looking.

Life As We Knew It

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

When an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it closer to earth, life as Miranda knew it changed forever. Tidal waves destroy coastal cities, volcanic ash darkens the air, and communication with anyone but your neighbors is all but impossible. Miranda's older brother makes it home from college, but her dad and pregnant stepmom decide to risk traveling and are soon unreachable. She's left with her two brothers, her mom, and their elderly neighbor who is a family friend. At first, things don't seem too bad. Electricity is spotty, but available, and they have plenty of canned and boxed food to survive. But it's the slow unraveling of society that makes this novel special--the steady but sure decline of humanity that would be inevitable if an event like this were to occur. There are a few holes in the world-building, such as stating they were out of natural gas, the electricity is off, and somehow they are cooking dinner. (This is all before they began using the wood stove...) But I guess I can look past all that because this is the kind of book you want to tell everybody about.