Author: Paul Griffin
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: Text Publishing
Goodreads
Five of us went out on the water that night.Review by Nara
None of us came back whole, and not all of us came back.
Best friends Matt and John are spending the summer working: Matt to save money for college, John to kill time before trade school. On the beach, the beautiful Driana stops Matt in his tracks. Dri, Stef and JoJo invite the boys to a party at Dri’s Hamptons mansion, and Matt drags John along.
When Stef decides it’s a beautiful night to go windsurfing, the others race out on the water to make sure she’s safe. But with no land in sight and a broken boat engine, it’s not just Stef they have to worry about. And as the hours turn into days, the prospect of rescue seems further and further away…
Adrift is a book that has the sort of premise that isn't often seen in YA: a group of teenagers go to look for a friend who went to do some late night surfing, and are cast off into the middle of the ocean as they realise they are out of fuel.
Honestly, I feel like the characters were all pretty underdeveloped. Main character Matt had the personality of a cardboard box, and Dri, the love interest was just that: the love interest, and had no defining features except being pretty and nice. John just kept making creepy and annoying and unhelpful comments like "why don't we use that dead person as bait for sharks" and "we should kill that person before they turn on us", and honestly I'm just sitting here like, shut up John.
There were a couple of minor things that bugged me throughout the book- they were definitely little things, but they just kind of built up and I think it got a bit too much for me in the end. Like the fact that flies suddenly appeared and disappeared while they were in the middle of the ocean (where did they come from and where did they go??). And the fact that Matt commented on how thin and emaciated everyone looked when it was something like day 3 adrift (people don't lose weight that quickly...). There were others, but I won't sit here mentioning them all.
Overall, Adrift was a quick read that felt like it left a few issues unexplored. It probably would have benefited from being a bit longer.
It was okay
RatingsOverall: 5/10
Plot: 3/5
Romance: 2.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 3/5
Title: Midnight Frost (Mythos Academy #5)
Author: Jennifer Estep
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Kensington Teen
Here we go again …I think that this book was quite a bit slower than the previous ones in the series. It felt a lot more like it was a filler just waiting for the last book to come around. In fact, I feel like the whole series has been losing momentum as we move through the books, and I'm definitely hoping the last book is able to capture the awesomeness of the first few in the series.
Just when it seems life at Mythos Academy can’t get any more dangerous, the Reapers of Chaos manage to prove me wrong. It was just a typical night at the Library of Antiquities — until a Reaper tried to poison me. The good news is I’m still alive and kicking. The bad news is the Reaper poisoned someone else instead.
As Nike’s Champion, everyone expects me to lead the charge against the Reapers, even though I’m still hurting over what happened with Spartan warrior Logan Quinn. I’ve got to get my hands on the antidote fast — otherwise, an innocent person will die. But the only known cure is hidden in some creepy ruins — and the Reapers are sure to be waiting for me there …
One of the great things about this series is the romance, and I feel like this was a little weaker in this book, mostly because Logan didn't really appear as much, and when he did, it was a little annoying how preoccupied he was about what happened in the previous book. On the other hand, the characters are still the fantastic characters we remember- especially Gwen, who if anything is even more badass.
I feel like Jennifer Estep will be able to bring this series to a satisfying conclusion in Killer Frost. I'm definitely going to be hanging around to see what happens.
Liked it
RatingsOverall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Romance: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 1/5
