Summer Reading - 2013 Edition (3)

Among my friends, I'm known as the book person. As a result, whenever someone is looking for a book recommendation they come to me. This time of the year, this happens a lot since summer is fast approaching and a lot of my friends are typically seasonal readers--as in they read when they have time to do so and that time is often summer. Like I did last year, I thought I would post these recommendations--by genre--here on the blog as well. Up this week, some fantasy and science fiction recommendations.

- The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - If you haven't heard of Cinder and Scarlet, you are seriously missing out. The Lunar Chronicles are fairytale retellings set in a futuristic world where humans, cyborgs and androids co-exist. Believe me, it's just as awesome as it sounds. Cinderella is Cinder, a cyborg and Little Red Riding Hood is Scarlet, a girl who runs a farm with her grandmother. With the Lunar Chronicles, be prepared to rethink a lot of what you know about fairytales and that's what makes them so awesome.

- Unremembered by Jessica Brody - When I read it, Unremembered wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. But it turned out to be quite the sci-fi read. If you choose to read Unremembered, be prepared to be surprised because for much of the book it doesn't feel like you're reading a sci-fi story. So if you're looking to read some sci-fi that doesn't feel too much like a sci-fi story, then Unremembered is a good option. The only downside is that it's the first in a trilogy and the two sequels aren't out just yet.

- Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes - Even if you aren't a particularly big fan of fantasy, you should still read Morgan Rhodes' Falling Kingdoms. I can't really say whether or not this is a valid comparison or not, but this book has been compared to Game of Thrones. Though I can say that it is a truly fantastic story (no pun intended). Falling Kingdoms is the kind of book that will grab your attention right from the beginning. Though a word of warning, characters have a tendency to die…especially the ones you get attached to.

- The Gypsy King by Maureen Fergus - Again, even if you aren't that into fantasy, The Gyspy King by Maureen Fergus is s story that will grab your attention right away, or at least it did for me. The story was very different from what I thought it would be and from other fantasy stories I've read (not that I've read all that many). And if you still need some convincing that The Gypsy King is a book to pick up, the sequel is coming out this fall, so you won't have to wait that long to find out what happens next. Though if you are outside of Canada, it might be a little trickier to get a copy of this book.

- Witchlanders by Lena Coakley - Witchlanders was one of my summer reading recommendations last year and I still stand behind that recommendation. The story in this book felt incredibly real despite the clear high fantasy elements and the characters were memorable. And for a nice change in YA, the two main characters are boys. Even though Witchlanders is not quite as recent as some of the other recommendations on this list, it's still a great fantasy read if that's what you are in the mood for.

So these are just a few fantasy and sci-fi recommendations and is not an extensive list. If sci-fi/fantasy isn't what you are looking for you can always check out my contemporary and paranormal recommendations or come back next week for some post-apocalyptic and dystopian recommendations.

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Title: Unremembered (Unremembered #1)

Author: Jessica Brody

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girls discovered floating among the wreckage--alive--is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn't on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can't be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn't know, plagued by abilities she doesn't understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can't remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she's running out of time to answer them. 

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

I remember first hearing about Jessica Brody's Unremembered and being really excited at the prospect of reading it. And somewhere along the way I must have missed the part about this being a sci-fi book, so I was confused. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the book once I realized what it was all about.

When she finds herself amid the remains of a plane crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Seraphina doesn't know how she got there or even who she is. The only person who seems to know who she is is a mysterious boy who seems to simple appear and then vanish just as easily, only to warn Seraphina that some dangerous people are after her. But when you have no idea who you are, where you're from or even where you are, staying out of danger's way is not as easy as it seems.

Like I mentioned, I had somehow missed the part about Unremembered being a sci-fi book. Don't ask me why or how, but I had somehow missed that tidbit of information. So you can imagine that I was somewhat confused when I first started reading the book. But once I finally clued in, things started making a lot more sense and I started enjoying the story a lot more. The story in Unremembered is an interesting one. There are definitely many aspects of it that I didn't see coming. I don't necessarily read all that much sci-fi but this one was quite different from the others that I've read. It's a little hard talking about this story without giving away the big reveal, but I will say that this story may not be what you expect it to be. 

Sera was an interesting character to read about. For a good chunk of the book, she was completely clueless, but not in the way you might think. She's not intentionally clueless so much as she's lost all her memories and doesn't seem to know anything about the world she lives in. In this sense, having the story told from her point of view was different. It felt like I was discovering everything at the same time as she did. But as interesting as Sera was, the character that I truly enjoyed was Cody. There was something about the boy that made me laugh, and I loved it anytime he was around. He was just one of those quirky kids and the way he acted with Sera just kept putting a smile on my face. As far as Zen is concerned, I'm not entirely sure what I made of him. He was interesting but it felt like I didn't have enough information about him. But I feel like in future books I will get to find out a lot more about him.

Though it wasn't what I thought it was going to be, Unremembered by Jessica Brody turned out to be a different and interesting read. I still have a lot of questions about different aspects of the book, but with the way things ended, I'm hoping to get some of those answers in future book. So if you're looking for a sci-fi read, you may want to consider Unremembered.