Catherine Stine

Ruby is 17 years old and has already been promised to an older man in her cult, Fireseed, since she was just a child. On the night when she is to consummate that promise, she grabs her little brother and goes on the run. She ends up at a school for orphaned teens in the middle of nowhere and thinks that finally she and her brother are safe. As you can imagine, things rarely go according to plan, and Ruby is no different.

The world building in this book was done very well, the characters were likeable, and the plot was interesting and kept me engaged until the very end. This was the second book in the Fireseed series but could be read as a standalone and easily followed.

Recommended.

4/5 stars.… (more)

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Dorianna is a plain simple girl from Indiana, but after her father is arrested, she’s sent to live with her aunt in New York. She sees this as a fresh start, she won’t have what her father did hanging over her head. Her first day of school she meets Ander, the former high school soccer star. He invites her to Coney Island, and although she is curious about his motives, she tosses all misgivings and decides to join him. There she meets his friend Wilson Warren, the guy has an obsession with his camcorder and keeps filming her. She complains but he insists people don’t look the way they think on video and shows her. In the video she’s so beautiful; she can’t believe it’s her. At Wilson’s apartment he shows them how he can manipulate the background and make everything look amazing. While Ander is out of the room briefly, Wilson asks her the one question that will change her life forever; what would she trade to be pretty and popular?

I have always loved the book The Picture of Dorian Gray, this is similar with a Stephen King’s Carrie twist. This is truly an amazing modern remake. The characters are believable and pretty accurate for teenagers. I thought the descriptions of everything was absolutely perfect, I even scared myself picturing portions. This story is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it’s a perfect Halloween read!… (more)