The Replaced by Kimberly Derting {review}

The Replaced
by Kimberly Derting
♦publisher: HarperTeen
♦release date: April 28th, 2015
♦hardcover, 368 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: The Taking, book 2
   review of book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Kyra hasn't been the same since she returned from her mysterious five-year disappearance. Now, on the run from the NSA, Kyra is forced to hide out with others who, like her, have been Returned. Yet she is determined to find Tyler, the boy she loves who was also abducted—all because of her. When her group intercepts a message that Tyler might still be alive but is in the hands of a shadowy government organization that experiments on the Returned, Kyra knows it's a risk to go after him. What if it's a trap? And worse, what if the returned Tyler isn't the same boy she lost?

Review: While I have a feeling I’ll be one of the few to read this book, because I know I was one of the few who really enjoyed The Taking, I admit I had a harder  time with this second installment.  After the way book one ended, with Kyra’s boyfriend and father disappearing and her finding her way to a camp of others like her---other Returned---I guess the natural way for the story to progress would be the action-packed run from the government agents and the suspenseful search for her missing loved ones.  It was good in that sense.  Excitement, danger, and some great new characters that she meets in the camp keep the plot rolling.  

However, I found it lacking a lot of what I loved about book one.  Kyra’s angst and immaturity that I was able to accept before as  being a pretty realistic reaction of a girl thrown suddenly into a difficult and crazy situation was just too much this time around.  There was a fair bit of whining and jealousy and sulking that seemed out of place in such intense situations. Still, it’s not completely unfounded, as Kyra discovers she doesn’t quite fit in, even with others that have been abducted and returned.  There's an interesting dilemma where she is faced with figuring out what being human means to her.  And I'm not usually one to complain about a love triangle, but I didn't like the one building here.

sStill, a few really sweet moments and a good surprise twist or two pulled this one back to a decent read for me. I’m undecided yet whether or not I’m curious enough about how it ends to pick up the third book next year, but I fairly enjoyed this second book!

Find Kimberly Derting online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase The Replaced:   BookDepository  •  Indiebound   •  Amazon 

Becky's View: The Taking by Kimberly Derting

The Taking by Kimberly Derting
♦publisher: HarperTeen
♦release date: April 29th, 2014
♦hardcover, 368 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: The Taking, book 1
♦source: ARC from publisher for honest review (via SF Book Review)

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

Review: In The Taking, Kimberly Derting gives us yet another great story full of struggle and romance and the mysterious unknown in her signature relatable writing style that I’ve come to love.   She’s taken a concept that can be precarious to tackle well in fiction and made it fresh---it’s probably the most human alien abduction story I’ve ever come across.

This story very smartly concentrates less on the hows and whys of an unexplainable alien abduction and keeps the focus on Kyra’s struggle to blend back into a life that doesn’t fit anymore.   She’s lost five years in the blink of an eye and hasn’t aged a day.  I was easily drawn into her confusion and hurt as she realized that everything she held dear has changed, her family, her boyfriend, even hopes for her future have all slipped away or changed to the point of being almost unrecognizable.

The love story in this one is not only very sweet, but also a strengthening factor for Kyra.  And not in a way that makes her feel dependent or weak.  It’s actually a bit awkward to begin with; a boy that she last saw as the twelve-year-old brother of her boyfriend is now charming, artistic, and connects with her in ways that his brother never could.  She has a hard time wrapping her head around that at first, of course, and tries to deny their attraction, but well, you can guess how that goes!  Kyra does come across a little angsty at times, especially where her new family situations are concerned but I thought most of her anger and frustration were understandable. She did misdirect some of that at her new little brother, which made it hard to like her at times, but that eventually smoothed out, which I was glad of. 

For me, anything to do with aliens can quickly turn cheesy, but here I think the subject is handled really well.  This IS the start of a new series, and while it touched on the mysterious things going on with government agencies, the sketchy character who claims to be like her, and the strange things that Kyra is discovering about herself after being abducted, there is plenty left wide open to make me curious enough to pick up book two.  It does leave us with a heart-stopping cliffhanger, but I actually loved where the story ended. 

This was one more from this author that I thoroughly enjoyed!

 Find Kimberly Derting online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase The Taking:  Amazon  •   BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Book Trailers: Firecracker, Chantress, Dead Silence, & Far Far Away

Some good trailers have been released recently! I want to read ALL of these!!
Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield


Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting


Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal


Firecracker by David Iserson

This last one is funny---lots of familiar faces in there! :D

Cover Story! The Rift & The Essence

Two awesome covers hit the web this week!

No summary yet for The Essence. The Rift looks awesome...it's a prequel to Andrea Cremer's Nightshade series!
Each photo goes to Goodreads so you can add them to your lists!

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

The Pledge
by Kimberly Derting

releasing: November 15th, 2011 from Margaret K. Elderberry

description:
A romantic fantasy novel set in a dystopic, war-torn world, in which a teenage girl realizes that she may be the key to saving her country.

My thoughts: Ok, so I know this one is ages away and the synopsis is not all that yet. But come on...it's Kimberly Derting writing a dystopian with her amazing writing skills and her wild imagination...it's gonna be awesome. In the immortal words of Veruca Salt: Don't care how, I want it NOW. ;)

Trailer for Desires of the Dead

Oh, wow...how did I miss this one! Apparently this trailer has been out for a few weeks and I haven't come across it anywhere until just a few minutes ago on VLC Production's blog! (Btw, does she not do some fabulous book trailers?? Amazing stuff!)

So, in case your like me and completely missed this one, here is the trailer for one of my most anticipated reads this year, Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting!

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Desires of the Dead
by Kimberly Derting

released February 11th, 2011

description:
The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

When Violet Ambrose's morbid ability to sense the echoes of those who've been murdered leads her to the body of a young boy, she draws the attention of the FBI. She is reluctantly pulled into an investigation that will endanger more than just her secret...but her relationship and possibly her life as well.

My thoughts: Ok, I know this one is nothing new as far as WoW picks go, but since reading The Body Finder just last month, I can't WAIT to get my hands on it!! Completely taken with the romance in this series, LOVE Jay---oh, and Violet...she's pretty cool, too. :)