Wake and Fade by Lisa McMann

"Your Dreams Are Not Your Own" Wake and Fade by Lisa McMann are about a girl named Janie and her unique ability to enter people's dreams...whether she wants to or not. Wake did not sound like a book I would normally read because it is not about preternatural creatures but it was recommended on a Twilight fan site I frequent, twilightseriestheories.com, so I thought I would check it out. I am glad and upset that I did. Glad because the book was phenominal, upset because I want the third book, Gone, to come out already. These books are short and fast reads, but McMann definitely packs a punch in these 200+ page books. Here is the synopsis from Wake:

"For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting suked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She can't tell anybody about what she does--they'd never belive her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant...."

Wake is unexpectedly good and I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can't give it a 5 out of 5 because there was a little too much normality to the random dream sequences, but not enough to take away fully from the story. Maybe I think that because my dreams are usually so crazy and weird that other people's dreams are too boring. Janie is a somewhat typical highschool student eventhough her mother is a drunk and she doesn't know her father. She gets through her day hoping nobody falls asleep in her classes and works evenings at a local nursing home. There she finds an unlikely confidant that seems to know more about Janie than Janie does. She also stumbles upon an unlikely friend, Cabel. I don't want to give too much away, but I love Cabel! Anyway, Janie soon finds that her strange ablility can actually be useful.
After Wake, McMann presents us with Fade, which is just as good as the Wake, but a little different. Janie still uses her ability in her usefull way, but it takes her down a strange path. She also finds out some disturbing things about her ability that may make her think twice. She also sees a different side of Cabel, one that she may not like.
I really recommend these books to anyone that likes a good mystery. They are suspenseful and edgy. I really like the characters, especially Cabel, and I can't wait for Gone to come out in February 2010. If you crave more from McMann and need something before Gone comes out to fill your Wake series void, click here to read Wake in Cabel's point of view.

Fever Series By Karen Marie Moning

I am a huge fan of the HBO TV series True Blood because I am a huge fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series. Therefore I listen to a weekly podcast called Last Bite. At the end of the podcast, the hosts do a segment where they tell the listeners about the books they are reading at the moment. One of the hosts' was talking about The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. It sounded ok and when I heard that you could download the first book, Darkfever, for free here or here, I immediately did just that. I read it in about a week. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars. Darkfever was not like anything I had ever read. This series is in the romance section, but I am confused as to why. It has more action and suspense and you only get romance in Faefever and Dreamfever. I finished Dreamfever in less than a week. The next day I was at Borders with my coupon in tow ready to buy Book 2, Bloodfever, but they were sold out of it! So I ordered it and had it shipped to the store. It was the longest wait EVER! Not really, it was only 3 days, but it seemed like it took forever. When I went to pick up Bloodfever, I also bought Faefever since I was there. I finished both over the next three days. Luck would have it, Borders sent out a 40% off coupon the next day and after work, I picked up Dreamfever. I am a little obsessed with this series. The characters are so intricate and intriguing that I could NOT put these books down. Here is the synopsis of Darkfever:

"MacKayla Lane's life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she's your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks...until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death-a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone-Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister's killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed-a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae..."

I know what you are thinking, Fae? Not exactly my favorite book subjects either, but man o man did I forget about my predjudice fast! MacKayla is thrust into a world she was not ready for and completely not expecting. She meets a "man" named Jericho Barrons that helps her along the way and a fae prince named V'lane that may or may not be on her side. Both of them will melt your pants off, no kidding. You will see what I mean when you read this. The story line builds and builds throughout each book. The characters are ever changing and little bits of their true identities get revealed in each book. By the end of Faefever, which ends in a horribly intense cliffhanger, you are so in love with these characters, they are all you think about. Dreamfever was unbelievable. So much happens in this book, it is a little overwhelming, but in a good way. It is funny, sad, shocking, sexy, adventurous, and irresistible. I can't say enough about it, but I don't want to give anything away. Anything that I could tell you specifically about the plot line will give something away that adds to the suspense of the book. And if I thought Faefever ended in a cliffhanger, Moning will have you falling off the cliff at the end of Dreamfever. Who is it?!!. Sorry, I am all in a tizzy about the end I just can't control myself. This is definitely one series I will be reading multiple times. Just download the first book because it is free and then I guarantee you will be at the library or bookstore trying to get your hands on the rest of the series. Shadowfever is the next and last book of this series. I don't know when the release date is, but rest assured, I will be at Borders that day waiting for it to open.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Sparks are igniting. Flames are spreading. And the Capitol wants revenge. Catching Fire is the second in the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and was recently released on September 1, 2009. Knowing how much I enjoyed the first book, I was waiting outside Borders with a co-worker the morning of the release date. I read the book in two afternoons. It was amazing! Definitely a 5 out of 5 stars. Here is part of the synopsis from the inside cover:

"Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol--a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create."

This sequel is just as good as the original if not better. It has the same heroic characters and immensely detailed and fascinating world created by Collins. However, this book is about 5 times more suspenseful and has about 10 times more action. The story begins right where Hunger Games left off. Katniss and Peeta are back at District 12 after being brought back by the train from the Capitol. They are enjoying some down time in their new houses and money for a while before they begin their Victory tour through each District. Some unexpected things happen to Katniss, but one visit from someone in her past really puts her on edge. Then comes the tour. Peeta and Katniss are paraded through each District doing speeches and dining with the higher ups in each. Collins does not go into detail about what occurs in each District visited on the tour, but what we do get to read about is utterly shocking. Collins really knows how to pull at your heartstrings. After the tour Katniss and Peeta return to District 12 to find some interesting changes. A lot happens in a short amount of time and I have never been so disbelieving as when I read what this years Hunger Games entails. I am not going to spoil it for you so I am going to skip to the end. Gale says the last line of the book and it is a bigger cliff hanger than the end of the first book. I am just completely ticked off that I don't know when the next book comes out.