J.A. Souders

Evie lives in Elysium, a utopian complex under the ocean, safe from the barbaric world of the Surface Dwellers. Here, everything Evelyn wants is provided, as long as it is the framework of Mother's directive. Someday she will become Mother to Elysium and she must learn her duties. Right now her primary duty is to select a Couple-Mate so that she can bear an heir that will succeed her. One day while walking in her garden a strange-looking boy stumbles across her path and sets in motion events that will change Elysium forever.

This YA book had a lot in it that I tend to enjoy in my sci-fi stories: utopian cities, eugenics, unreliable memories, nanotech, etc. That said, I didn't love it. I wanted things elaborated on that weren't and that could be because there's a sequel. But I just don't have enough interest to read on. Best summed up as: Meh.… (plus d'informations)

The story starts in the underwater city of Elysium where Evelyn Winters lives. She's the daughter of the people, her mother a sort of Governess/Empress who rules with some pretty strict laws and rules.

Most of the rules are to protect them from the surface dwellers whom the mother blames for a whole lot of things and who get characterized as warmongering monsters with no morals. Of course, that means that a surface dweller Gavin and Evelyn are bound to cross paths and they do. He drops into her gardens and ignites a curiosity in her to find out what Elysium really is, since it seems like it's not all it appears to be.

It's in the present tense, which I usually can't stand, but Souders seemed to do such a good solid job of writing it in present that at times I even forgot that it was written in present tense. I also expected it to be a little more science fiction/fantasy, but instead the main thrust of the book seemed to be a psychological thriller creepy plot with all those twists. I liked it, just didn't expect it.

Unfortunately there were things about it that I didn't like either. At times it was a bit preachy. I also couldn't really picture Elysium until the very end of the novel, which made picturing some of the action during the book a little hard.

I also had a lot of questions that were left unanswered at the end. Perhaps that's because it looks like it might be the start of a series.

I won my copy of this book from Tor Teen.… (plus d'informations)

I received Revelations recently from Tor and was immediately drawn to reading the synopsis based on the cover. It's colorful, interesting, and I was really hoping that it was the first book of the series. It wasn't. SO then I thought, maybe I'll try to jump in - but let me tell you, what I read from the first book had me desperately wanting to get my hands on it. So I did. I dove into Renegade that night and, upon finishing it, immediately moved on to Revelations.

Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Dec. 12, 2013.… (plus d'informations)

I have a confession to make. I did not even know this book existed until I received its sequel from Tor Teen. I looked at the cover of this pretty hardback that I was set and wondered just what I was in for. When I saw it was the second book of the series, I looked up the first book, as any normal person would do, to see if I could get a quick overview of what had happened. I wasn't sure, you see, if I wanted to drop the cash on picking up the first one. But what I read in the summary, and what I could see of the writing in the sequel had me convinced. I needed to read the story of Evelyn and I needed to do it right, so I picked up an e-copy of Renegade by J.A. Souders and dove in.

Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Dec. 3, 2013.… (plus d'informations)