This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Author: Courtney Summers
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
Date Published:  June 19 2012
Publisher: Saint Martins Griffin

Introduction
       The zombie apocalypse is here. Six kids have taken shelter in an old high school. While everybody else in the group is finding ways to fight for survival, Sloane Price is struggling to find a good reason to stay alive. Nothing in life is going right for Sloane. When she was to home, her father would beat her. The only thing that made life worth living was her sister Lily and their plans to run away together when Sloane got old enough. Six months ago, Lily ran away without her. With Lily gone her father was unbearable. When apocalypse came, Sloane left, and found 5 other kids, Rhys Cary, Harrison, Trace, and Grace. Now at the school, nobody is really ever in a good mood. Nothing looks good. Soon they will run out of water, eventually out of food, and they can never get enough sleep with all the zombies aching to get inside.

Cover
       The cover is pretty cool. I love the blood spatters in the corner.

Characters/Relationships
       The characters in this book are all pretty awesome. No huge complaints. Except, everybody gets super angry at Harrison for crying all the time. When in reality, that is probably what I would be like. I know that I wouldn't be the only one freaking out all the time. I mean, lets be real here, I can't handle a spider. I would not be brave in times like that.
       Rhys and Sloane might like each other, but in my opinion they were both just lonely. It was never super personal or serious.

Conclusion
      I really liked this book. It wasn't action, explosions, or all blood and gore. It tugs on your heart a little and you might end up shedding a tear, but you probably won't end up in a full out cry every time you read the book. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes zombies and is okay with sad elements. I wouldn't recommend this book to younger readers, as there is mention of sex and some clothes do get shed.

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Author: Daniel Marks
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 447
Date Published: October 9 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Introduction

       The purgatory is gray, ashen, and depressing. It's where you end up if you are not ready to go to heaven or hell when you die. At sixteen, Velveteen 'Velvet' Manroe was murdered. Velvet landed herself in the purgatory and boy, does she have a lot on her plate. She had sworn vengeance on her killer, Bonesaw, who's list of victims is growing. Another thing that seems to have everybody in the purgatory on edge is a group of people called the Departurists. They don't believe in the way the purgatory is run, want to destroy it, and go around possessing living people out in "The Daylight." Leaving the purgatory and haunting/possessing people is of course not allowed, unless given permission. If you get caught haunting, your soul could be bound to the purgatory and you are forbidden to move on to heaven or hell when you are ready. On top of all that, Nick a guy new to the purgatory, seems to have wriggled his way into Velvet's heart and she of course, doesn't have time for that.

Cover
       The cover of Velveteen is nice. Showing two obviously dead people lying down. So, I guess you can add me to the list of people who love this cover.

Characters
      I didn't really like any of the characters in this book. I really disliked Velvet. She isn't really ever nice, and she is actually kind of whiny. When you first start to read this book, you might be thinking things like,
Velvet is going to be so cool!
Yeah, she's such a rebel!
I wish I could be like her!

Nope. Like I said before, she is mean, whiny, and annoying.

Dislikes
       Sadly, reading this book wasn't always cookies and cream. The blurb on the dust cover is misleading. More than half of the blurb is about how she wants to haunt Bonesaw. It also mentions nothing about the Departurists. In the actual book though, haunting Bonesaw is about 10% of the book (more or less) and the other 90% is about the Departurists and Nick. Also when I first started reading this book I was a little confused. I took a few chapters for me to understand what was going on, and then right when I felt like I was on top of things, BAM! something confusing happens again. Another thing about the actual story, there are also super boring parts in the book. So boring in fact that you might need to stop reading and put the book down for a while.
      Then, we have the relationship between Velvet and Nick. Velvet saves Nick from being imprisoned in a crystal ball at about the 120th page mark. Soon after, they kiss. Then they have this whole complicated relationship thing going on. Velvet always swears after they kiss that, that kiss will be the last. It never is.

The Ending
        When this book ends, you will end up with a lot of questions. Nothing really feels finished. All I can say is that this book desperately needs a sequel. Although so far the're are no plans to write one.

Conclusion
       This book seemed really promising when I started to read it. It turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. One of the biggest disappointments for me is the getting revenge on Bonesaw isn't a bigger part of the book. I think boys could read the book. I mean, the purgatory idea is really interesting, and the characters are pretty cool. Even though the protagonist is a girl, she isn't very girly. All boys would really have to look past is the romance and it could be a really good book for them too.

Wither by Lauren Destefano

Author: Lauren DeStefano
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 358
Date Published: March 22 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Introduction
       In this broken world, everybody knows exactly when they will die. Long ago, a generation of people were born. They were perfect. No life threatening conditions ever infected their bodies, and most settled comfortably  into old age. When this generation had children however, something went wrong. This newer generation is a ticking time bomb. Females will die at age twenty, and males will die at age twenty five. sixteen year old Rhine only has four more years left to live. One night, she is taken from Manhattan and chosen along with two other girls to become a wife of a wealthy man named Linden. Linden lives in a mansion where you could lose yourself in illusions, But Rhine knows the only reason she Jenna, and Cecily are in the mansion is so they can bear children. While Linden is really nice to all the wives, All that is on Rhine's mind is escaping. She needs to get back to her twin brother Rowen, and she needs to spend her few remaining years where she grew up. With the help of a servant named Gabriel, and her sister wives, she just might be able to make it back before it's to late.

Characters/Relationships
       I like Rhine and Jenna, but Cecily can be a bit of a brat sometimes. I mean, I know that she doesn't fully understand what's going on, but she's never nice to the people that bring her the food, and she is barley ever nice to Jenna and Rhine.
       Rhine starts of hating Linden, later in the book she realizes it isn't his fault that she's stuck in the mansion.  He's as much of a prisoner as she is.
        The girls are at the mansion so that they can have children, they do mention sex, but nothing really happens.
      Aside from Jenna, most of the characters have really cool names. Rhine is the name of a river. Which is pretty cool. I've never heard the name Cecily before, but I quite like it. The only problem I have is that the two names, Rowen, Rhine's brother, and Bowen, a baby, sound too close to each other in my opinion. All you have to do is change ONE letter.
      I saw Rhine and Gabriel's relationship come from a mile away. I don't know if it was like that for anybody else who read the book, but to me it was obvious.
       On Goodreads, a lot of people have been having discussions on whether they liked Gabriel, or Linden better. I don't really like either of them. Gabriel doesn't have much of a personality, and Linden is completely clueless about the fact that neither Jenna nor Rhine actually want to be at the mansion. Which I guess isn't really his fault because that is probably what his creepy father wants him to believe, but still.

Conclusion
       I liked this book. It's nice change from what I usually read. This is the first book in The Chemical Garden Trilogy. I will pick up the second book entitled Fever if I get the chance.