Borgs before Boys

 Title: The Lunar Chronicles:
                                             
                                                Cinder
 
                                                Scarlet

                                                Cress

                                                Winter

                                         Author: Marissa Meyer
                                         Previous Work: None

                                         Summary: 

                                         Cinder- Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a
                                         second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her
                                         stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But
                                         when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome
                                         Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of
                                         an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction.
                                         Caught  between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal,
                                         she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect
                                         her world’s future.

                                         Scarlet- Cinder’s trying to break out of prison—even though
                                         if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted
                                         fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s
                                         grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things
                                         Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave
                                         danger she has lived in her whole life.

                                         Cress- Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run,
                                         with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to
                                         overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from
                                         invading  Earth. Their best hope lies with Cress, who has
                                         been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her
                                         netscreens as company. All that screen time has made
                                         Cress an excellent hacker – unfortunately, she’s being
                                         forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received
                                         orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

                                         Winter- Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and
                                         her  allies, Winter might have the power to launch a
                                         revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
                                         Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and
                                         find their happily ever afters?

                                         Rating: A 5. I absolutely LOVE this series.
                                         Awards: 

                                         (For Cinder)
                                         2012 YALSA Teens Top Ten
                                         2012 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Debut Goodreads
                                         Author Nominee
                                         2012 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fantasy
                                         & Science Fiction Nominee

                                         (For Scarlet)
                                         New York Times Besteller
                                         2013 Goodreads Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science                                                                            Fiction Nominee
                                       
                                         (For Cress)
                                         2014 Goodreads Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science                                                                            Fiction Nominee

                                         (For Winter)
                                         2015 Goodreads Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science                                                                            Fiction Nominee

                                         Opinion: I love the Lunar Chronicles. There is nothing like
                                         them. The characters are complex and the author layers so
                                         many of the aspects of their fairytales into the story. For
                                         example, their names are perfectly chosen. Take Cress and
                                         Thorne, who represent the story of Rapunzel. Rapunzel was
                                         so named after a type of lettuce. Cress, similarly, could be
                                         short for watercress, although in the story it is short for
                                         Crescent Moon, a nod to Cress's Lunar heritage. Thorne is
                                         so named because in the original story, the prince falls into
                                         thorns and is blinded. The stories are riddled with such
                                         careful allusions, enough to cause a thrill in the reader
                                         when they find them, but not so much they take over the
                                         story. I recommend this series to any teen girl.

Yellow Bird

 Title: Conversion
                                   # of Pages: 420

                                   Author: Katherine Howe
                                   Previous Work: 
                                                         The Penguin Book of Witches

                                                          The House of Velvet and Glass

                                                          The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

                                   Summary: "Are there any questions?" Father Molloy said,
                                   folding his arms over his chest and looking at us. I inclined 
                                   my head over to Emma, about to ask if she had any idea 
                                   what he meant, but she didn't seem to be listening. She was 
                                   staring at the front corner of the room, her cheeks flushed a 
                                   splotchy pink, and gripping her pen so hard, her knuckles
                                   were turning white. My gaze swiveled, following Emma's 
                                   stare over the heads of my classmates to the hallowed corner 
                                   where Clara Rutherford sat, her desk practically bearing a 
                                   little reserved card written in calligraphy. And that was the 
                                   first time that I saw Clara Rutherford twitch.

                                  After the Salem witch trials Ann Putman finally prepares to
                                  give her confession to the new reverend, as to her role in the
                                  events. In modern times an epidemic breaks out at Colleen's
                                  school with no apparent cause. As she investigates the events
                                  surrounding he strange illness Colleen discovers something
                                  startling. Her town is located where Salem used to be. Could
                                  the Salem witch trials be repeating themselves?

                                  Rating: This book is a 3.5.
                                  Awards: 

                                  2015 Young Adult Massachusetts Book Award

                                  Opinion: I really enjoyed the way the book effortlessly changed
                                  between present day and the past.  Anne's story was just as
                                  engaging as Colleen's. That being said, the stories seemed to
                                  reach a climax where they should have become intertwined, and
                                  instead, Anne's story and character arch seemed unresolved.
                                  Colleen's situation was left up to the reader to decide, but at
                                  least it felt finished. Overall, the story had a great presence with
                                  an eerie feeling, and enough history and suspense to keep the
                                  plot interesting.