Click the book covers below to read the complete blog posts.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor

Hourglass, by Myra McEntire

Rot and Ruin (Benny Imura #1) By Jonathan Maberry ****

“Anyone seeing those three teenagers smiling the kinds of smiles they wore would run in terror. Benny was counting on it.”

This story takes place 14 years after First Night – the night when anyone who died turned into a zombie. As the night went on, more and more people died, and thus more and more people became zombies. Now Benny is 15, the year when you either get a job or your rations get cut. After trying out a few different occupations, he ends up apprenticing to his brother, Tom: a zombie bounty hunter.

But there’s more to Tom’s job than Benny could have guessed. Tom doesn’t just kill zombies, but he specializes in closure. Learning Tom’s job teaches Benny about the ways of this world that the people in town don’t talk about, and he also learns the meaning of life and humanity.

I’m not a fan of the zombie genre – or the post-apocalyptic or dystopian genres either – but this was a really good book. It’s not just a zombie slasher novel, though there’s plenty of that; Maberry looks into the emotions and mind sets of people living years in survival mode and the morality of killing zombies who once were people, too. It’s a story of loss and fear and, ultimately, courage. Maberry also asks the question: Who’s the real monster, the zombies who kill mindlessly or men who are capable of reason and still do awful things?

I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good zombie book or movie. I’d also recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games – those who dug into the story of a world-gone-wrong and a teenager’s fight to make it a better place. I’ll close with a quote that epitomizes both Katniss’ journey in The Hunger Games and Benny’s here:

“Often it was the most unlikely people who found within themselves a spark of something greater. It was probably always there, but most people are never tested, and they go through their whole lives without ever knowing that when things are at their worst, they are at their best.”

“How do you tell the difference between real people and time ripples?” “You mean besides punching them in the stomach?” I blushed, not because I’d hit him, but because I was thinking about his abs.

Before I begin with my review, please take a moment to admire the awesomeness of that cover. She’s walking on the wall, very close to landing on the floor. Both beautiful and a bit creepy.

Now to the story. Emerson is a girl getting ready to go back to her old high school for her senior year. She spent the last few years at a boarding school in another state. She also spent some of that time committed to a mental institution. Around the time she was 13, Em started to see dead people. Shortly after that, her parents died. Shortly after that, she yelled at a guy who took her seat in the cafeteria, only to realize that she was the only one who could see him.

Jump forward a few years later and Emerson gets a visit from the Hourglass Institute; her brother hired them to try to help her through these “visions.” But instead of getting some quack doctor or crazy shaman, a young man shows up and tells her the visions are real…and they mean she’s a time traveler. And he needs her help to right a wrong from the past.

I loved this book. It’s a really cool take on the time-traveler genre. Emerson has a snarky sense of humor, which I love, and the writing is fast paced. There’s action, mystery, and a romance – a great read for anyone who enjoys the paranormal genre. Also a great choice for anyone who likes a book where the characters have a sort of super power. We also have the sequel, Timepiece, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

What I recently finished:
I just finished reading Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin, the first book in the Benny Imura series (the series will have four books total and book 3, Flesh & Bone, will be published this fall). This story takes place 14 years after First Night – the night when anyone who died turned into a zombie. As the night went on, more and more people died, and thus more and more people became zombies.

I’m not a fan of the zombie genre – or the post-apocalyptic or dystopian genres either – but this was a really good book. It’s not just a zombie slasher novel, though there’s some of that, too; Maberry looks into the emotions and mind sets of people living years in survival mode and the morality of killing zombies who once were people, too.

Look for my full review in the coming days, but I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good zombie book or movie. I’d also recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games – those who dug into the story of a world-gone-wrong and a teenager’s fight to make it a better place.

I also finished Polterguys (Volume 1), a graphic novel by Laurianne Uy. Again, look for the full review in the next few days. But in the meantime, this graphic novel was a quick and cute read. It follows awkward and nerdy Bree, a new college student, who finds herself living alone in an old house. However, she’s not as alone as she thinks – she actually has 5 ghostly roommates. This story has the feel of Ouran, though it began without the same depth, with added paranormal elements.

What I’m reading now:
I just picked up The Lost Code (The Atlanteans #1), by Kevin Emerson. What I’ve discovered so far: global warming, and perhaps other ecological and man-made issues, have created some major problems for earth. The ice caps have melted, so earth has lost a lot of it’s coastal areas, and it’s so hot that only a few places are habitable. A lot of the remaining people live in bio-domes, though it seems that those are failing, too. And it turns out that this isn’t the first time tech-savvy humans have wreaked havoc on the earth; the Atlanteans did, too. And it seems that our hero, Owen Parker, may be connected to that ancient race, and that connection may be needed to save earth.

I’m only a few pages into this book, but I think (and I’m hoping) that it may have more of a Percy Jackson/adventure story feel, even though it has that post-apocalyptic flavor.

What I’ll read next:
Oh goodness, I have no idea. Some of the contenders include Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood, Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout, or – depending on how quickly it gets cataloged – Soulbound by Heather Brewer (that’s the one I really want to get my hands on!).

So, what are YOU reading?

On Savvy Book Reviews, I’ll be showcasing books that we’ll be adding soon to the library!

This week’s pre-publication “can’t-wait-to-read” selection is:

Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1)
By: Gena Showalter
Publication Date: September 25, 2012

Description from Goodreads:
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I’d tell my sister no.
I’d never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I’d zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I’d hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I’d tell them I love them.
I wish… Yeah, I wish.

From Me:
I love all things Alice! I’m intrigued by any retelling of the classic, and I generally prefer them to the original. This is one zombie book that I’m looking forward to reading!