Insurgent

by Veronica Roth, 525 pages, Sequel to Divergent

While this is a very long book, you are drawn into the story right away. The action is almost non-stop, so you don't have much of the characters sitting around and discussing their predicament. They are always on the move and facing danger.

You definitely need to read Divergent first, or none of this will make sense. I can't give plot details away because there would be too many spoilers. Tris, Tobias and others from the Dauntless faction are being hunted down by the Erudite faction. 

<Mini Spoiler: skip the rest>

Time is running out for the free Dauntless and other factions, because the Erudite might gain access to a simulation which will affect everyone, including Divergents. And trust me, this would definitely be a bad thing. Its fast pace, a ruined futuristic Chicago and intriguing characters make this a book worth reading for all ages, not just teens. How soon before the next one comes out?

Fever

by Lauren DeStefano
341 pages

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but they’re still in danger. Outside, they find a world even more disquieting than the one they left behind. Determined to get to Manhattan and find Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan, the two press forward, amid threats of being captured again…or worse. The road they are on is long and perilous—and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and men die at age twenty-five, time is precious. In this sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price—now that she has more to lose than ever.

This second installment of the Chemical Garden trilogy is lame. Rhine and Gabriel are captured again on like page 2, escape again on like page 182 then Rhine literally walks directly back into the arms of Housemaster Vaughn and back to the mansion on like page 302. Really? Let me guess what happens in book 3...Gabriel goes back to the mansion and rescues Rhine...again.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

by James Patterson
422 pages

This first book in the Maximum Ride series is action-packed.  Max and her "flock" are kids who have been genetically enhanced with avian DNA to give them superhuman abilities.  Among these is the ability to fly.  Four years ago, with the help of an adult scientist, they escaped "The School," the lab in which they were enhanced, held captive, and tortured.  They have been living in hiding since that time.  Unfortunately, their lives are turned upside down when they are discovered by the Erasers, and the youngest of the flock, Angel, is kidnapped and taken back to "The School."  It is up to Max and the rest of the flock to break her out.

Overall, this was a fast-paced, action-packed novel.  Despite it's apparent thickness, this is a pretty quick read.  Max is a witty, self-deprecating narrator, so I can definitely see why it is popular with teens.  However, I thought there were several holes in the plot.  I understand how a younger audience could buy into this, but I felt like this story was just a little too contrived.  Though I'm a bit curious about what will happen to the flock next, I do not feel the urge to read the next book in the series.

Prized

by Caragh O’Brien
356 pages

Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code.

Definitely a satisfying sequel. I loved it as much as I loved Birthmarked. And there wasn’t a love triangle, but a love square! These are the best dystopian novels out there. Can’t wait to read the final installment, Promised, when it’s released this Fall.

The Chemical Garden Trilogy: Book One: Wither

by Lauren DeStefeno, 358 pages

In a future where a miracle cure leads to drastically shortened life expectancies for subsequent generations (25 for men, 20 for women), those with power and money try to buy themselves and their loved ones time by snatching girls off the street for forced marriages in hopes of breeding out the glitch...or providing their genetic research with enough human guinea pigs to find the cure. When 16-year-old Rhine is kidnapped and sold off as a bride to a wealthy household along with two other girls, she and her sister-wives each face the situation their own way, choosing to embrace it, bear it, or fight it.

Hrmm. I enjoyed this teen dystopia title for its character studies--the girls each have a distinct personality and their daily lives in close quarters are well realized--but I had a harder time with the set-up for the world outside. Too much feels like it was chosen purely for convenience without regard for believability. Exactly 25 and 20? Where's the government and how could it and law have broken down so utterly, so quickly, when the people running things would still be of the First Generation? And if it's such an unstable shambles out there, why does so much of society seem to go on just fine, or at least oblivious to the trafficking issue? Or does it only impact the poor and orphans? Do the men in grey psychically know the median household income and family situation of every girl they snatch? And not all the characters get the attention and development that the girls do. We only know Housemaster Vaughan is scary evil because everyone reacts to him that way, but we rarely see any evidence to back it up (I don't doubt he is, it would just be nice to feel the same thing the characters do when he walks in the room). And how does Gabriel, who can't figure out where the front gate of the estate is, know how to steal and sail, not to mention navigate, a yacht solely from reading books? I will most likely read the next one to see if the author fills in any of the holes and watch how the remaining characters grow; I just wish I didn't have to suspend disbelief so much in the process.

Wither

by Lauren Destefano
358 pages

Best young adult dystopian fiction story I’ve read since Hunger Games (well, I haven’t read a lot, so you know.) It was beautifully written and the world was believable with the too young girls being forced into a polygamous marriage then becoming pregnant. It did creep me out that in this future, it happened more than it does now. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series to see if Rhine finds Rowan, if Linden ever gets a clue about his father and will there really be a antidote to the virus so Rhine and Gabriel can live HEA.

Samurai Deeper Kyo: Volume 37-38

by Akimine Kamijyo, 415 pages

Kyo and Kyoshiro's personal histories as individuals and as friends-turned-potential-enemies are finally revealed as are their motives for taking the paths they've chosen. One by one, everyone pulls together to support them and their shared purpose. But the only one who can face the desperate, bitter, seemingly-all-powerful Former Crimson King is Kyo--in his own body. But after so long apart from himself, will Kyo be able to maintain the new identity his soul has formed over the years, or will he fall back into the dark, voracious, unstoppable force of destruction that lies buried in his genes? Only with the love and support of his new family can he hope to prevail...or survive.

Despite yet another knock-down, drawn-out, not-over-nearly-as-soon-as-it-should-be fight, this final installment in the series still manages to land the emotional punches that made me read this far in the first place. I love these characters. I love how they all grow as individuals and as a family. And I love how you just know, no matter what they appear to do on the surface, that their hearts are all in the right place. With its themes of indomitable hope, self-sacrifice, and strength in loving numbers, SDK gets to the warm-fuzzy sucker in me no matter how much cheese or how many overwrought battles it throws in its way.

Samurai Deeper Kyo: Volume 35-36

by Akimine Kamijyo, 370 pages

Bounty hunter Yuya thinks she may have snagged the wrong guy when she picks up flirty but harmless wandering medicine man Kyoshiro. But when his personality switches to that of a fiery-eyed, crazily-grinning master swordsman when the two are attacked by a third party, she realizes she has the right man, after all. But if the notorious Demon Eyes Kyo is sharing a body with a helpless dope like Kyoshiro, will she still get the reward? Money, however, quickly becomes the least of Yuya's worries, as she's drawn into the complex and deadly mystery of how the two men came to share the same body...and how that dual occupation will ultimately come to an end.

This samurai fantasy action epic is filled with fictionalized historical characters, complex longstanding rivalries, life-or-death fight after life-or-death fight, and more numbered hierarchical groups than you can shake a stick at (if The Four Emperors, The Sanada Ten, The Five Stars, and The Four Elders are more than you can shake a stick at).

Honestly, this 38-volume story probably could have fit into about half the number of books if the author had just trimmed the excessive number of repetitive, over-the-top, formulaic fights (rarely complete without breathless play-by-play from friends and foes on the sidelines). It is all a bit ridiculous, really.

And yet here I am, one bundled volume away from the long-awaited conclusion, having stuck it out despite all my complaining. For this, I blame the characters. For all their posturing and bickering and bellicosity, they still manage to be endearing. Good guys, bad guys, whose-side-are-they-really-on guys--they all have a story. Rash Benitora is a naive sweetheart. Smooth goof Yukimura is secretly a soft-hearted, calculating, wicked-skilled swordsman. And then there's the whole complicated Kyo-Kyoshiro dynamic. After hanging out with everyone for so long and watching their at-first-little family expand and bond, I can't help but want to see them through to the end. It helps, too, that the actual plot is intricate and intriguing enough to make me read through all the chest-pounding and one-upmanship in order to see how it all plays out.

SDK isn't for everyone--and wouldn't normally be for me--but if you don't mind being sucked in for the long haul despite your better judgment, it can't hurt.