Two Summers by Aimee Friedman

Title: Two Summers
Author: Aimee Friedman
Publisher: Point
Release Date: April 26th 2016
Source: Audio-book from Scholastic Audio. Thank you Scholastic!  

Summary from Goodreads:

ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender . . .

ANOTHER SUMMER in upstate New York, along familiar roads that lead to surprises . . .

When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to France, where she’s dreamed of going: a land of chocolate croissants, handsome boys, and art museums. In the other, she remains home, in her ordinary suburb, where she expects her ordinary life to continue — but nothing is as it seems.

In both summers, she will fall in love and discover new sides of herself. What may break her, though, is a terrible family secret, one she can't hide from anywhere. In the end, it may just be the truth she needs the most.

From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes an irresistible, inventive novel that takes readers around the world and back again, and asks us what matters more: the journey or the destination.

Review

Two Summer was not the light summer vacation read I was expecting.  Two Summers is really about a young girl experiencing two different journeys  to get to the same place.  These journeys are not easy journeys either.  Summer lives with her mother who is divorced in New York but has plans to visit her father in France for the summer.

The story alternates between the two different journeys.  There are family secrets, new friendships, changed relationships, new loves, and ultimately new experiences.  Two Summers offers the reader a deeper look into one girl's life and how while the journey matters sometimes the destination is the same.

While I did enjoy the audio narration, plot pacing, and the character development, Two Summers was heavier than I was looking for in a summer read.

Everland by Wendy Spinale

Title: Everland
Author: Wendy Spinale
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: May 10th 2016

Source: Audiobook from Scholastic Audio. Thank you Scholastic!

Summary from Goodreads:

Forget the story of Peter Pan you know. Because in Everland, the only way to grow up is to survive.

London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders -- the German Army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.

Unsure if the virus has spread past England's borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Gwen sets out to save her, she meets a mysterious boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Gwen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook?

Review

I listened to the audio book version of Everland, it was fantastic, I love multiple narrators, especially ones with British accents.  The chapters are either told from HOOK or Gwen's point of view, which is a nice change since you do not always get to hear the story from the villain's POV.

Everland is a unique and dark re-telling of Peter Pan just without the fantasy and fairy tale aspects. This story is a darker more post-apocalyptic version of the original fairy tale.  London has been plagued with a disease and there is only one cure that both Pete and Hook are after.  It was fun to pick out all the subtle and some  less subtle traces of the original story in this creative retelling.

Everland is a very plot-driven book with a focus on the search for a cure and hope in saving those that are sick.  Parts of the story line were easily predictable but that never took away from my overall enjoyment of the book.  I definitely recommend Everland if you are look for a fairly romance free but high adventure story!

The Sleeping Prince (The Sin Eater’s Daughter #2) by Melinda Salisbury

Title: The Sleeping Price
Series: The Sin Eater's Daughter #2
Author: Melinda Salisbury
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: May 31st 2016

Source:ARC from the Publisher. Thank you Scholastic!

Summary from Goodreads:

Return to the darkly beautiful world of The Sin Eater's Daughter with a sequel that will leave you awed, terrified . . . and desperate for more.

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.

When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.

Review

Goodness, The Sleeping Prince might be an even stronger book than The Sin Eater's Daughter.  The stakes are higher, the romance is more forbidden, and the war is now upon the kingdoms.  This story is told from Errin's point of view which gives the readers access into a different part of the  story's world and a different view of Lief. It further enriches the vivid setting and add a layer of depth the the overall story.

There is SO much going on in this book, there are appearances from various book one characters and many new characters as well.  Since the stakes are higher and the Sleeping Prince is awake, the tension throughout the book was much higher then the first book.  I felt like I had to get through to know what was going to happen because towns were being pillaged, people were dying, and there was an overall sense of havoc.

There is some hint of a love interest but overall the romance elements take a back seat in this book and let the suspenseful magical war drama ensue.  I was engaged up to the very last page and was kept on my toes with new surprises and unexpected turn of events.  I highly recommend this book and this series if you want to dive into a darker almost fairy-tale-like world full of living stories and old myths.