Never Say Die

Never Say Die 
by Will Hobbs

When the motto of your village is "never say die," you have a lot to live up to. . . .

At home in Canada's Arctic, Nick Thrasher is an accomplished Inuit hunter at fifteen. About to bring home a caribou for his ailing grandfather, Nick loses the meat to a fearsome creature never before seen in the wild. It's half grizzly, half polar bear. Experts will soon be calling it a "grolar bear."

Returning to his village, Nick receives a letter from the half brother he's never met. A former Grand Canyon river guide, Ryan Powers is now a famous wildlife photographer. He'll soon be coming to Nick's part of the world to raft the remote Firth River in search of huge herds of migrating caribou. Ryan also wants to learn what Inuit hunters are saying about climate change in the Arctic. He invites Nick to come along and help him find the caribou.

Barely down the river, disaster strikes. Nick and Ryan are both thrown into the freezing river and find themselves under a ceiling of solid ice. With nothing but the clothes on his back and the knife on his hip, Nick is up against it in a world of wolves, caribou, and grizzlies. All the while, the monstrous grolar bear stalks the land. (description from Amazon.com)

I actually enjoyed this book a lot. It was full of action and danger.  It was a book that made me look things up, but not like I was learning stuff in school, more like I was just so curious to see if the nature-related stuff was real or not.  This book made me think about how we're affecting the environment and how that will reflect back and affect us later on.  I liked how Nick stays true to his heritage, even as he thinks about the larger world.  This book was very different from what I normally read, but it was a good one! 

Full disclosure: Borrowed through interlibrary loan

Hidden

Hidden

by Sophie Jordan

Firelight, book three

 

A dangerous journey.
Shattered bonds.
Undying passion.

Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the "prince" of their pride. But she resisted her fate long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian's sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.

The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there's no guarantee they'll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning. . . . (description from Amazon.com)


Though I realistically knew the way that the author would end this book and I enjoyed the action and the introduction of some new dragons, I was still horribly disappointed with how the romance worked out.  It's so hard when you latch on to a character and desperately want the main character to end up with them and yet, you know that they won't...

Aside from my heartbreak, this was a very good ending to the series.  I still love how Jordan can make these books steamy and adventurous without getting too graphic! The draki are still amazingly cool and I loved how Jacinda and her sister both really figured out exactly where they needed to be in the end.

But...I'm still Team Cassian... and my heart just broke for him.

Full disclosure: Borrowed through interlibrary loan

Sisters Red

Sisters Red

by Jackson Pearce

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris - the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax - but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.

If you are a fan of dark urban fantasy, Sisters Red is a book for you. The Fenris are not your average werewolves; they are darker, fiercer, more sexually predatorial. The way that Scarlett and Rosie lure, nay tempt, the Fenris into pursuing them before they slay them was darkly fascinating. This is a seductive and gritty take on "Little Red Riding Hood."

The relationship that Scarlett and her sister, Rosie, share is also fascinating. Joking that they shared a womb, though were born years apart, and thus are really two halves of one heart, the love triangle in this book is not so much about the guy. In a non-sexual way, Scarlett loves her sister to the point of obsession. Rosie is all she has left. Rosie is the only one she can count on to love her.

When Silas returns and he and Rosie start to fall in love, they both feel guilty. They both love Scarlett. Yet, they can't deny their feelings for each other. Yet, Rosie also feels tied to Scarlett...it devastates her when she believes the bond is broken. Silas also loves Scarlett, but not as he loves Rosie.

Balancing this enthralling set of relationships with the hunting and slaying of slathering creatures, Pearce has written an impressively modern fairy tale. It is realistic, yet still brims with the elements that drew me to fairy tales as a child. Absolutely, more Grimm than Disney. Just the way I like my fairy tales...cautionary!

Full disclosure: ARC received at BEA 2010

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country
by Allan Richard Shickman

Well past the middle of the night Zan felt a shaking of his shoulder as he slept, and then an impatient foot kicking at him. Instinctively grabbing for his spear, he looked up and saw the orange glow of a torch, and as his eyes adjusted to the invading light he recognized his brother's ghastly face. Dael's dangerous brow was furrowed, and the vein of his forehead bulged under the old scar. His teeth were clenched, and his eyes darted nervously back and forth. His every motion expressed a profound agitation, and Zan knew that what he had been dreading had come.
"It is time, Zan. Let us go!"
"Where? It's dark!"
"I want to find where the river comes from."

The volcanic turbulence that shakes Dael's mind carries him to vicious extremes. It is Zan's task to calm his brother and lead him away from thoughts both destructive and self-destructive. But even the paradise of the Beautiful Country will not erase them. (taken from back cover copy)

Again Shickman draws readers into the turbulent prehistoric world of Zan-Gah and his Ba-Coro tribe. Since rescuing his brother, Zan-Gah has continued to be treated as a leader. After Dael's wife dies, his grief drives him almost to madness. As thoughts of revenge on all those who had previously wronged him, including his once beloved twin, Dael becomes another leader, causing those who follow him to question breaking their tribe apart for good.

This fast paced, easy to read book includes love, betrayal, jealousy, courage, inventiveness, and fanaticism, making for an exciting read. Each character grows in interesting ways and many concepts about right and wrong, good and evil, are explored.

A good pick for a middle school reader looking for some excitement! Readers do not even have to start with the first book. Enough is recapped in this one that it is not necessary, though it would be recommended.

Full disclosure: Received from publisher for review.