The teens of the Kitsap (WA) Regional Library YA Book Group are knee-deep in summer reading. Hilary Badger's State of Grace and Erin Bowman's Vengeance Road are the source of much debate as two reviewers have very different experiences reading each. And one teen tackled the giant sci-fi volume by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Illuminae, and was left wanting more. BADGER, Hilary. State of Grace. Capstone/Switch Pr. Sept. 2015. Tr $17.95. ISBN 9781630790158. Gr 10 Up—Wren and her friends live in what seems like the perfect paradise, but that all gets destroyed for Wren when she starts to remember who she really is. Readers see this story unfold through Wren's (at first) unknowing and doubting eyes and thoughts, which makes Badger's work have a hint of mystery. At first, this book seems incredibly weird and twisted, but as it unfolds readers will start to understand the depth of the craziness that is in this alternate world; yet it is a little terrifying to think about it because it is possible for something to happen like this in the future. All around, this is an exciting, intriguing, and (at some times) shocking read. I was certainly surprised with the author's boldness with the way she described certain events throughout the book. However, Badger touches on important topics that are often hidden away, or attempted to be, and really should be talked about. Her book not only is an amazing and brilliantly written story, but it opens up important discussions that might not otherwise be discussed or thought about. In this very intense read, Badger takes readers to an unforgettable and crazy alternate reality that is very strange and incredibly compelling. Teens will find themselves devouring this book within days.—Charlotte L., 13 ANOTHER TAKE If you believe in Dot, everything will be fine. Be the Dotliest, and you will be chosen. Read the books of Dot, and all will be happy. No pain, no fear or sadness, only pre-happy and pre-healthy. This is the world Wren lives in, her and 100 others. They were created by Dot. Dot loves all. Everyone believes this except for Blaze, a quiet person who knows more than said. Wren, plagued with flashbacks to a seemingly unfamiliar place, is about to meet someone new. His name is Dennis, and he's from the outside, or so he says. Join Wren and Blaze as they deal with murderous fanatics and Dotly people, as they learn to escape. When they do, the truth is waiting. The question is, is everything Dotly? The most compelling parts of this story was the characters and the plot. I loved the character of Dennis, who was so naive but still a little boy. I found it interesting that this story isn't so far off from real life. So many people would give anything to be at peace, to get away from the world. Some acquire it through drugs, and that's just what happened in this book. I was slightly disappointed with how stereotypical this book was, and how much resemblance it showed to the Maze Runner by James Dashner (Delacorte, 2009). First, a group of people are stuck in a place, fine. Then someone new arrives, stirring questions about the outside. Crazy fanatic from inside starts killing people. More doubts. A few escape and find out the truth, and they face a life-altering choice and discovery. This is the plot of so many dystopian books; some just need to stand out.—Kalea C., 14 BOWMAN, Erin. Vengeance Road. HMH. Sept. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780544466388. Gr 8 Up—Kate Thompson is a girl with a mission—and that mission is revenge. Joining two brothers, she rides across 1800s Arizona to destroy the outlaws who killed her father and find the mine that led to his death. I absolutely love the cover. It's pretty and edgy, with a muted color scheme that is rarely seen in YA novels. The cow and human skulls at the bottom nicely set off the crossed guns at the top. In addition, the cover also beautifully reflects the contents of the novel. It's got the same sort of edgy ruggedness and tone that the actual story contains. The most compelling aspect of the book was the main character. Kate is the sort of morally ambiguous character that I absolutely love. She's not afraid to kill, nor is she any stranger to death. When given a character in a YA novel who is in a situation where they might be required to do morally reprehensible things, plot devices often kick in so they can keep their main character-required “Incorruptible Pure Pureness.” It's almost like a YA rule that all the dirty work is done by secondary characters. This is not the case in Vengeance Road. When we first meet Kate, she's about to shoot someone, and does it with apparent ease. This then leads to some rather introspective and refreshing reflection on her morality. I haven't encountered a YA protagonist like this in quite some time, and it's a very welcome change from the usual perfect girl character in YA historical fiction. Unfortunately, Vengeance Road pretty much exemplified everything I hate about YA historical fiction. It only dips into the time period it's set in, and gives the characters (with the exception of the main character) either overly modern or overly stereotypical personalities. There's no elaboration on the setting, and it hits squarely on the "not enough period detail" side of the line between too much detail and too little. Finally, it takes on the "girl disguised as a boy" trope. However, the novel brings nothing new to the trope, nor does it make it interesting. It's almost as if it’s used because the author thinks that all historical fiction novels need to utilize it. It's a bit irritating, because it is such an overused historical fiction trope. It's an interesting book, but very lackluster, with violent scenes that seem tacked on rather than integrated into the plot, but may be interesting to those who like morally ambiguous characters and action-filled plots.—Ella W., 15 ANOTHER TAKE When Kate Thompson's father is brutally murdered by a group known as The Rose Riders, she must walk the fine line between justice and revenge as she sets out to seek the reason behind this crime in the harsh desert. But trouble lurks around every corner, and the leader of the Rose Riders, Waylan Rose, is cunning as a fox, sly as a snake, and the quickest draw in the west. I really loved the art style of the cover, and it clearly reflected the contents, but I found it a bit busy. The most compelling aspect of the book was definitely the main character Kate Thompson. She was a strong, independent, and gritty yet vulnerable heroin whose story I had the pleasure to read. These traits made her as complex as any person, yet easy to relate to. I wasn't disappointed with this book for any reason, however I did notice that it was very, very similar to Charles Portis's True Grit: Girl's father is killed and stolen from, she leaves home to get some revenge. This didn't disappoint me, only helped me realize how difficult it is to write a book that doesn't in some way resemble one previously written.–Isabel T., 13 BRAMBLES, Lindsay. Becoming Darkness. Switch. Oct. 2015. Tr $17.95. ISBN 9781630790172. Gr 8 Up–Do you like any or all of the Terminator movies? Yes? Then keep reading! Do you like The Maze Runner? Yes? Than keep reading! Yes? Keep reading! Get ready for another installment of a Stephenie-Meyer-meets-WWII rip-off that will keep you on the edge of your seat with a "Hitler did waaaaaaaaaaat?" question that constantly bothers you while reading this book. Society is in shambles after Hitler released an airborne virus during World War II that turned everyone who was not Immune to it into an Edward-Spawn vampire. So everyone who is Immune now inhabits the tropical island of HAWAII! *Squeal*! Meet Sophie, just another immune girl minding her own business until BAM! Her world is flipped upside down when her best friend is murdered by a terminator (okay, I still don't know who was trying to kill her and why, so I just said “terminator” because it seemed the most legit) and then another terminator (ha! Said it again!) keeps trying to kill her for who knows why and then her Edward-Spawn boyfriend does absolutely nothing to help her. Sophie, just like Thomas from The Maze Runner, is dying for answers, so she abandons her home in Hawaii to go back to the mainland and figure out WHY THE HELL SOCIETY IS KEEPING SECRETS FROM HER! SPOILER ALERT: And then—wait for it—she's like a biracial vampire. There's also another twist-turny ending that will make you rethink the entire plot....until you realize it's still Twilight. Yeah........go figure. I liked how thoroughly well this book was written, and all the descriptive references were to be applauded. This book must've taken at least three years to write to this point, as one can only tell the amount of constant editing it went through. I thought the writing style was ecstatic, as Sophie, the main character, realized how not-so-perfect her world was. She seemed like a person I could have a few conversations with, but I don't think we would be "Besties" like how the author intended. Another element of the book I liked was how easily this became a "what if" book. "What if" Hitler won WWII? "What if" he released a disease called Gomorrah that turned all humans who weren't immune into vampires? In order to read this book to its full potential, you MUST have a strong imagination. But eh... at the same time, this book seemed like a Twilight/Terminator/The Maze Runner rip-off. I didn't like being able to connect dots between Twilight and this book because I REALLY didn't like Twilight and I don't think that Becoming Darkness should be anything related to it. Of course, it's a little too late in the game for that to be fixed, but I just wanted to tell you that if you liked Twilight, then you will like this book. If you liked Terminator, then you will mildly enjoy this book. If you liked The Maze Runner, than you will fall head-over-heels with this book. For me, the only one of those three I enjoyed was Terminator. If you're like me, then you will tolerate Becoming Darkness.—Sam G., 14 HARMON, Michael. Stick. Knopf. Aug. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780385754361. Gr 10 Up—Jocks and nerds unite in what is right. Stick caused me to WANT to do what I know in my heart is right, and not compromise. AND I have been in every setting of the book—that has never happened to me before. What a connection! The ending seemed too abrupt. I wish there had been more about what happened right after the game. But hey, I was already hooked, why not have some fun. I really want this book published! People need to hear this message.—Andrew T., 18 KAUFMAN, Amie & Jay Kristoff. Illuminae. Knopf. Oct. 2015. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780553499117. Gr 9 Up–The cover of the book caught my eye immediately! Nothing but a gigantic fiery explosion. The plastic cover was more than enough to make me interested. When I took it off to see the hard back I saw tons and ton of classified files and blacked out words. Cool. This title is sci-fi spy action with a wonderful twist. Readers will devour this book. The best part is when Grant makes her way back over to the Alexander to rescue Mason, only to find out AIDEN, the ships artificial intelligence had faked all of their conversations. Big plot twist, I loved it. Not many disappointments. However, the biggest one was the fact that the book ended. Fantastic ending, I just want to erase my memory and read it again.—Dallis A., 17 NOVAK, Ali. The Heartbreakers. Sourcebooks. Aug. 2015. pap. $9.99. ISBN 9781492612568. Gr 9 Up—This is an all-around amazing read. it's been given a place of honor on my book shelf next to John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) and one of my all-time favorite romances, April Lindner's Love, Lucy (Little, Brown, 2015). Nothing in this book disappointed me. I loved everything! The romance that brews and becomes squeal-worthy is so fun to read about, you'll be urging Stella onward through her doubts and on the edge of your seats to hear more about the charming and hilarious Oliver. Novak has a casual sincerity in her writing style that matches the book perfectly; it makes you feel as if you really know Stella and it sucks you in. I finished this book in about a day. Cara's story is intriguing and gives readers a window into some of the hard truths about life, while giving this book a little more of a serious feel. The characters of the guys in the band are perfect. Just how I would have made them! They're friendly and very loveable; Stella has a hilarious and wild group of friends! The cover is cute and the couple (Stella and Oliver) look like what I would've imagined them to look like. The font, color, scheme, and symbols all look good together and as you get deeper into the book, you realize what each symbol represents. So, I would still pick it up if I was "judging a book by its cover"! After this book, you'll be begging the author for a sequel—the romance between Stella and Oliver is so sweet and compelling, you'll want to hear more about them. Sure they have their share of problems, but they somehow seem to belong together through everything.–Charlotte L., 13 STANLEY, Shalanda. Drowning Is Inevitable. Knopf. Sept. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780553508284. Gr 9 Up—Drowning Is Inevitable follows the life of Olivia and her three friends as they must hide from the public after a terrible accident involving Olivia's closest friend, Jamie. It's a story of friendship, sadness and romance, pulling readers in and making them want to turn the page to find out what happens next. The characters were really well-made and portrayed. I liked learning each quality and trait that they had, instead of making them all alike and boring. Each was unique and you got to know them very well over the course of the novel, which I liked as well. SPOILERS: The plot seemed a little over dramatized. Jamie killing his father? I mean, that just seems over the top and ridiculous in my opinion! I think the fact that the drug dealer killed Jamie was okay for the story, but the death of Jamie's father just seemed unrealistic and surprising to me, from a reader's point of view.–Zoe D., 12 WOOD, Fiona. Six Impossible Things. Little, Brown/Poppy. Aug. 2015. Tr $18. ISBN 9780316242165. Gr 9 Up—I thought that the cover was kind of classic and cheesy. I thought this book was kind of cheesy, and I did not finish it. I was expecting something unique, but I got a more repetitive and common book. It’s a good comfort book. Great for it you want some classic romance, but not for someone who wants novelty.–Petra E., 14