Kate's Tales of Books and Bands

Extra Points for a cool cover :) Written by: Catherine Linka Eat some granola bars on the go while you read about Avie's fast paced escape! Avie Reveare lives in a Paternalist society, where her every move is controlled by the men that surround her. She must adhere to the strict rules that govern her and all the women, and she never has a moment of privacy (really, never ). When Avie's father arranges her marriage to a vile Paternalist billionaire, Avie realizes that maybe it's time for her to run away to Canada, where women are free and treated equally. With the help of her long-time love interest Ronan, and a network of friends, she is spirited away in the night. On her way to freedom though, she slowly realizes just how oppressive the Paternalists are. She deals with romance, betrayal, and lots of action. I liked this book! The plot/setting was really original and definitely was an interesting commentary on the society we live in today. A lot of books that I read these d...

Written by: Georgia Clark Gulp down a tall glass of H2O and some water crackers for this one! Yay for sci-fi/adventure/romance/dystopian original novels! Seriously, I really liked this book. Clark is a charismatic writer, and her characters are complex and fun to get to know. Tessendra Rockwood is a spoiled rich girl who (for reasons initially unknown) leaves the protective dome of her city, Eden, to camp out in the Badlands. The contrast is horrifying; people in Eden live clean, happy lives and have an abundance of precious water, while in the Badlands children fight over the smallest sip of muddy liquid. Tessendra is eventually found by a member of the rebel group Kudzu, who are intent on ending the growing inequality. She returns home and lives with her uncle, who she thinks may be helping Eden keep the water in and the Badlanders out. She works undercover with the Kudzu, and eventually hatches a plan to help free the water, all while balancing her time studying at home with her Unc...

Written by: Jennifer E. Smith A big bag of Sweethearts would go well with this sweet novel! This novel follows the life of Lucy, the daughter of wealthy but detached and barely-ever-there parents, and Owen, who struggles daily with the recent death of his mother and caring for his desolate father. One night during a NYC blackout, Lucy and Owen are trapped in an elevator together, and slowly realize that they have found their soul mates. They fall in love, but cruel fate separates them when they both end up moving away from the city, and from each other. The reader follows their up and down relationship over continents and through time zones, and watches as they eventually figure out how to deal with their complicated romance. This book was... pretty average, actually. It certainly wasn't bad, and I'm all for a good romance, but the way the novel was written was just a tad too unorganized. Something just didn't quite click. Lucy and Owen are both adorable people, romantics w...

By: Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon Once again I found myself reading a romance.  This is not exactly my genre.  While I can admire romances in books with intricate plots, romances just  don't do the same thing for me.  In general, I find it annoying when one character is constantly thinking about another.  This was an average romance.  The main character Veronica was in love with another character, Jamie, the entire time.  There was some suspense and action but most of it was about the romance, which makes sense, because Doon is a romance.  I won't say it was an extraordinary romance but it also didn't fall short.  Veronica is a girl from the United States.  Her dad left her when she was 12, her mom is marrying someone she hates, and her boyfriend just left her.  Overall, her life is pretty bad.  Her friend Kenna takes her to Scotland for the summer where they discover a magical world called Doon.  Doon passes time at about...

Written by: Lisa T. Bergren Gnaw on some beef jerky and a loaf of bread for this diverting novel. Everyone feels like hunkering down for a gritty adventure novel once in a while, and I recommend this one. Set in the gritty and unappealing future, a pack of gifted warrior teens (the remnants) are burdened with the task of saving the world. Andriana, the main character with the power of reading emotions travels through the empire with her companions, searching for the missing members of their bedraggled yet fearsome squad. They must fight the wealth disparity in the country, the crippling and oppressive upper echelon who keep the masses under their heavily bejeweled thumbs. There's a whole lot of action in this novel, and I got to get down and dirty in the mud with the remnants. The plot was packed with fight scenes and escape scenes, captivating scenery, and an overwhelming sense of urgency. Bergren took me through forests, caves, waterfalls, cloud, and mountains. Danger was everywh...

Written by: Heather Terrell Relic: Grab a Popsicle and chill out as you read this one (oh so punny). Relic is set in the future, after the great floods sweep the globe and leave only those worthy as survivors in the polar ice land. Society has reached a peaceful and righteous equilibrium, and from the looks of it everyone is happy in their pre-determined life stations. Or so it seems. Terrell starts out with the death scene of the main character's brother, Eamon. Eamon is murdered by a mystery killer as he was climbing the forbidden ice cliffs, and Eva, the main character, is introduced to us in mourning. She chooses to honor her brother by casting away her simple life of docile maiden, and replacing him in the Testing, a competition against nature, time, and other youthful competitors. The point of the competition is display your strength, wit, and skill by surviving and returning with a relic from the ice cliffs. The relics are examined and displayed for all to see; they serve as...

Written by: Jane Nickerson Pacify your sweet tooth with a honey stick and a slice of sweet potato pie. If you're hankering for a run of the mill adventure romance, you might as well stop reading here. The Mirk and Midnight Hour is a book set in the time of the American Civil War about a young Miss Violet Dancey who stumbles upon a little magic and a little excitement as she adjusts to her shifting environment brought on by the war. As she romps through the forest with her little cousin, they meet a wounded man holed up in Violet's old secret hide out. For a number of different reasons (the war, a deceased sibling, some ominous villains) the solider, Thomas, must be kept hidden in the woods, even in the face of possible danger. There are several different plots that sneak through the book, and they are written fairly well. Violet's life is both quaintly average (for the times), and secretly exhilarating.  On the whole, the subplots were good. On their own the independent sto...