The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman

A Brief Summary: Leo never believed time travel could be real until his sees a time machine in action, and and he's in it! In his quest for the time machine he is lead to The New-York Circulating Material Repository where he discovers the Wells Bequest a special collection that is full of objects from science fiction books, such as shrink rays, submarines, oh and a time machine. When a threat is made Leo and his friend Jaya must travel to 1895 to meet Nikola Tesla and to prevent an invention of his from being stolen. Full of adventure and excitement this book will capture your interest and keep you spellbound from start to begin.

My Review: This book is a companion novel to The Grimm Legacy, not a direct sequel. All that really means is it doesn't directly follow the first book, it's in the same universe but not the same story with the same characters.I really enjoy companion novels, you can read them without knowing anything about the main story. It may have references and you'll understand some of the inside knowledge better if you've read the main story but it's not necessary.

Anyway this book was amazing. Time travel in the hands of two teenagers can't possibly be boring right? You get references to science fiction legends including H.G. Wells,  and Jules Vern, descriptions of amazing technology that was featured in their books, that people in this universe can access.

I also enjoyed that Nickolas Tesla was given props in this book. He is one of the most talented inventors who have ever lived and is just now getting the recognition that he deserves. It's nice to see someone show him as the brilliant inventor that he is.

This book is aimed at a younger audience due to the young age of the protagonists. However someone who's slightly older will also really enjoy this book and understand some of the references to famous books better.

The Murder of Adam and Eve by William Dietrich

What would you do if you were thrown back in time to prehistoric Africa? That's what happens to Nick and Ellie but if that wasn't bad enough they've been told to save or condemn Adam and Eve, and with them all of humanity. No pressure right?

I really enjoyed this book, it was fast paced and gives you an idea of how people survived so long ago. It gives you an idea of how they hunted and how they lived. How they courted, and what we've evolved from so long ago.

 A part that I found very interesting was how they used articles from someone who is only referenced a few times, to give you sort of an idea that time flows linear-ish after you go through the warp hole. It doesn't give you a true timeline but you get an idea.

I really liked Nick as the protagonist. He grew accustomed to his new surroundings, not fearing change he might inadvertently bring, but also only causing change in order to achieve his goal of protecting Adam and Eve. Ellie makes a great counter point causing him to think over every decision that he makes.

The ending was extremely well done. It will lend itself well to a sequel if one's in the works, or it is a good stand alone ending. No cliffhanger, everything tied up, but the potential to continue on.

I recived this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my review which I freely and honestly give.

The Genome by Sergei Lukyanenko

Alex Romanov is a master-pilot recently released from the hospital. Upon his release he stumbled into helping a young girl through her metamorphosis, a painful and dangerous process, where her altered genes come to the forefront making her the special she was always meant to be. A special being a person who was altered as an embryo to be part of a specific profession. Alex determined to help the young special and to do so he accepts the role of captain of the Mirror, he gets to choose his own crew, the pay is really good, the only catch is he has no idea of what type of missions he'll be running. Sounds too good to be true, and you know what? It is.

This book was pretty incredible. It raises some questions as to what is a human and at what point should the line be drawn when it comes to modifications. From the lead in the bodies of engineers, to pilots inability to feel romantic love, each special is different and customized based on their parents wishes.

The characters that we get the chance to meet are diverse and amazing. The specialties that they have are varied so each person has quirks based on the specialty or specialties that they possess.

Not only are the human specials fascinating there are also different humanoid species. Between the different humanoid species there are complex inter-species relationships. This universe was masterfully created. There are a few things that are slightly odd to me, as in why a parent would consent to make their child a geisha-spesh (seduction specialist), or a couple of the other specialist types mentioned.

This book contains some graphic content so if that isn't your thing this book might not be for you.

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my review which I freely and honestly give.

Mindspeak by Heather Sunseri

Lexi Mathews attends a high school for the uber wealthy. Where privacy and protection are par for the course. Everyone at this school has secrets, Lexi's just happen to be a tiny bit more dangerous, seeing as her father is a researcher in the realm of genetics. Some of his work has questionable ethics, so at school no one knows that Lexi is related to him. That is until she meets new student Jack DeWeese. His father had worked with hers on some projects with sketchy moral grounds. That's not all, Jack and Lexi both have abilities that they have no idea where they come from. When Lexi starts getting threatening emails she has to decide to either face her problems, or run away and hide.

This was a pretty decent book. It was a bit of a let down due to the fact that it had all this lead up about "The Program" and you never really get any information about them. And that sucks because it would make the book so much better.

Don't get me wrong the book had a lot of very strong points. Such as Lexi and Jack's abilities. Those abilities grow and kind of change throughout the story. Which I really enjoyed.

Lexi and Jack are also very interesting characters and well developed. The side characters are also very well developed. I enjoyed that the villain of the story wasn't an obvious choice. I don't know about you but I adore when that is the case. If I can guess it within the first few chapters then the entire story is a bit of a let down.

I'm probably not going to read book two, because the series didn't capture my attention enough. It's a decent read but not one that I'd read over and over again.

Breeder by Ashley Quigley

Ariet lives in a world where your health is everything. You have daily scans, weekly medicals skipping any of them mean that you will face dire consequences. On her way to her last medical before she's of mating age, she gets, well kidnapped. She has a unique gene mutation and because of that she has been selected for the breeding program. Meaning she has even less freedom then before. Her mate has been chosen for her, and any children who look like they won't express the gene will be terminated. Also if she and Mason (her mate) fail to produce a viable offspring they will be terminated. Hows that for pressure?


This was a book that sparked a debate between my boyfriend and I. I took the side of the one, and he took the side of the whole. Basically I took Ariet and Mason's side, and he took the side of the scientists. However after discussing it with him, I've accepted that his point of view is best in this case. In this world the human population has been decimated and given the nature of the gene it's understandable to want the gene to be expressed and developed further. But being as the book is first person you start to feel for Ariet and all that she goes through.

With all of the current advancements in technology something like this happening is actually kind of worrying. With the human genome project we already know some of the genes that are desirable, and some the very much aren't. While we haven't had a human mass extinction, the need to control population may cause us to use gene therapy for this exact reason.

The only downside that I saw was the ending. To me it seemed rush, and seeing as this is a trilogy it really didn't have to be. I will definitely look into reading the other books to see where Ariet and Mason's story takes them next.

Alienated by Melissa Landers

This book was recommended to my by Tess. G, thank you so much for commenting I really appreciate it.

Two years ago they gave us a cure for cancer, now they're sending students to live her. This is the first  step in an alliance with the L'eihr. Three L'eihr students in the home of three regular human families. Clara sees this as a golden opportunity, a full ride, and an all access pass to the story of a lifetime. Alyex on the other hand sees this as a jail sentence and he and his friends have a plan not to be stuck her for an entire year.

Loved, loved loved this book! It is everything I hoped How To Date An Alien would be and wasn't. The L'eihr are so well developed with a culture all their own. With customs and traditions, and super incredible technology. I also loved the characters, how the L'eihr students woke up for lack of a better word and felt emotions that their people hadn't in decades.

This was an incredible, can't put down, story. Thank you again Tess G.

Mardock Scrambler by Tow Ubukata

Rune Balot wanted to die until she was taken off the street and her life was given meaning by Shell. It was just an ordinary day when he turned on her and tried to murder her. She was saved, but not entirely her skin was no longer skin, and she no longer had a voice of her own. Now she has a choice held end the man who killed her or end herself.

My boyfriend had gotten this manga for me from Minicon. Since it looked like something I would really enjoy and I did. I loved every character in the manga and I can't wait to see how they develop over the series. Also I really enjoyed the abilities of the different characters and I hope they add more characters with powers soon.

How To Date An Alien by Magan Vernon

All Alex has ever wanted was to attend Columbia university and earn her major in English. However you don't get into an ivy league school without extracurriculars. So Alex is of to Circe operations base for the summer as an intern and her world is about to be turned upside down. Once on base she learns not only aliens are real but they are the reason for Circe. Despite everyone telling her that it's not safe she starts to fall for an alien
 Besides how bad can it get?

I liked this book it's cute and quirky. The main characters are interesting and their relationship isn't just fall in love instantly. The work together, get to know each other, then it progresses naturally which is a refreshing change.

To all of the people who compare the main couple to Twilight, I respect your opinion but have to disagree. Alex is not pathetic and useless when anything goes wrong, she is strong and intelligent and it's displayed throughout the book. Also Ace is not controlling, or obsessive over her. Their relationship is a much healthier one than Twilight which is textbook abusive.

As I previously stated I respect your opinion but I disagree.

Assured Destruction by Micheal F. Stewart

Janus has created her own world called the Shadownet and all of her friends live there. They have Twitter Facebook, blogs everything you could want but they aren't real per se they're created from hard drives she's liberated from the shredder from the store she and her mother own called Assured Destruction. All is well on the Shadownet until the newest member Paradise57 gets linked in. Paradise57 is a representation of Jonny a boy from her school and everything starts to go crazy once she adds his hard drive into the Shadownet. Can she figure out who is trying to destroy her life before it's too late?

I absolutely loved this story Janus is an amazingly talented hacker. I know the term hacker has a lot of negative connotations but in this case it isn't meant as such. In this case hacker means some one who is amazing at coding, webdesign and Photoshop. I have friends who can code very similar to this and I consider it to be an incredible skill. This story was intreguing and I really want the rest of this series now. I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did.

The Eve Genome by Joanne Brothwell

Adriana Sinclar has always been a part of a pair. Born the twin of Analiese she has always identified as half of a whole but when Analiese dies of a botched blood transfusion she loses sight of who she is. If coping with the death of her twin wasn't difficult enough there's something unusual about her blood, and her sisters.

With heart wrenching scenes and twists and turns around every page this is one story that is extremely hard to put down. The characters are well developed with many facets to their personalities. A sci-fi novel exploring an obscure theory of evolution. That being said people who are believers in creationism will not like this book as it's basis directly opposes those beliefs.