Skinned by Robin Wasserman

(Cover picture courtesy of Rebecca Onion.)

Lia khan was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular—until the accident that nearly killed her.  Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human.  Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can’t ever truly die.  But she is also rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend and alienated from her old life.

Forced to live on the fringes of society, Lia joins others like her.  But they are looked at as freaks.  They are hated…and feared.  They are everything but human, and according to most people, this is the ultimate crime—for which they must pay the ultimate price.

Skinned is an unusual YA novel that deals with loss, life, fanaticism and what it means to be human.  In my opinion, it is speculative fiction of the first rate.

Lia Khan was a selfish, vain and shallow character in the beginning, but as the novel progresses and she realizes what life on the outside is like, she changes.  There are still frequent flashes of the old Lia, but being a mech (what people like her are called) changes her quite a bit, especially since she is  unable to feel pain or die.  She tries hard to continue her old life, but eventually accepts that the mysterious mech named Jude is right: she is anything but human and needs to embrace her new self.

Robin Wasserman’s predictions about the future of society ring true.  As technology advances, more and more ethical questions will be raised about how and when to use it.  In a futuristic society, there will also be religious extremists that advocate against changing nature, thereby “playing God.”  But it is not only the religious extremists that hate (and fear) mechs; many of Lia’s former friends do not believe it is really Lia inside her new robotic body.

Skinned can be enjoyed on many different levels and it means something different to every reader, which is what makes this such a great novel for teenagers.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

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The Twice Born by Pauline Gedge

(Cover picture courtesy of Amazon.)

Young Huy’s family is thrilled when his uncle offers to pay for the boy to attend a prestigious school at Iunu.  Thanks to his generous benefactor, the farmer’s son will now have a chance at a better life as a scribe.  But one away at school, Huy is unprepared for the jealousy his easy success stirs in fellow pupils, and he becomes the victim of a vicious attack that leaves him dead—or so it would seem.

His inexplicable return to life makes Huy a pariah, ostracizes him because of his visions of the deaths around him.  But priests believe his powers could be the key to interpreting the Book of Thoth, and Huy’s newfound fame attracts the attention of Pharaoh Amunhotep.  It’s only then that Huy begins to realize that his power is not granted to him, but owns him, for he is no longer his own master.  He is the King’s Man.

Well, here it is: the book that started my obsession with ancient Egypt.  I received this book on a bitterly cold Christmas Day and the lure of a story in a nice, warm climate was too hard to resist.

When I first began reading The Twice Born, I tried to take what little I knew about ancient Egypt and apply it to the novel.  But then I let go and surrendered myself to Pauline Gedge’s slow but compelling narrative.  The novel opens when Huy is four years old, a selfish and spoiled child, but drops hints as to his future: “When he was an old man, feared and worshiped by the whole of Egypt, wealthy beyond the dreams of any save the King himself, Huy would find himself pondering those words.”  (Pg 14)

The Twice Born is an excellent story, rich in historical details and wonderful character development, but it is not a book for those who love fast-paced plots.  It follows Huy from the time he is four years old until the time he is eighteen, with very few interesting events in between (aside from when he is twelve years old).  You simply have to sit back, enjoy the wonderful scenery and the realistic characters and let go of your preconceived notions of what ancient Egypt was really like.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

(Cover picture courtesy of Michael Scott’s website.)

The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330.  Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day.  It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives.  But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries.  The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage.  It’s the most powerful book that has ever existed.  In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world.

That’s exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it.  Humankind won’t know what’s happening until it’s too late.  And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

Do you love mythology?  History?  Fast-paced adventure?  Then this is certainly the novel for you!

Michael Scott masterfully intertwines history and legend together to create an action-packed, magical thriller that will keep you reading until the early morning hours.  This great start to a superb series combines elements of Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology to create a believable, magical universe.

Up until the end of the novel, everyone’s intentions seem clear to Josh and Sophie Newman.  But everything is not so clear by the end as they begin to realize nothing is in shades of black and white anymore.  They discover powers they never knew they had, meet figures of legend and learn a lot about themselves.  Filled with interesting points on life and plot twists, The Alchemyst is a highly recommended read.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

(Cover picture courtesy of Wester Library Blog.)

It’s hard not to notice Terra Cooper.

She’s tall, blond, and has an enviable body.  But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably “flawed” face.  Terra secretly plans to leave her small, stifling town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father.  When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob’s path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction.  With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?

North of Beautiful is a unique, thought-provoking novel that is definitely rare in the YA genre.  It’s full of complex themes like the true meaning of beauty, the power of words and the importance of choice.  Justina Chen Headley’s novel is a great one, but the one thing I did not like was the often confusing references to cartography.  I understood most of it after reading the book a couple of times, but there were plenty of obscure references that I had to look up.

Terra is a very interesting character that is obviously affected by the birthmark on her cheek and her father’s constant verbal abuse.  As the book goes on, we learn much more about her past and we realize just how much she’s changed by the end.  Terra changes for the better throughout the novel, with readers cheering her on every step of the way.

Unlike a lot of YA novels, the growing romance between Terra and Jacob feels very authentic.  They absolutely do not fall in love at first sight, but their affection grows throughout the novel, especially when Terra and her mom go with Jacob and his mom to China.  Jacob was probably my favourite character in North of Beautiful because he was so different from the usual YA love interest.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

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