Review ~ Fadeout by Christina J. Adams

Title: Fadeout

Series: And Carillians for the Machine #1

Author: Christina J. Adams

Publication date: February 20th 2013

Publisher: Smashwords

Genre: Young Adult Dystopia

Source: Review copy from Lovers of Paranormal Group @ Goodreads 

Thirteen-year-old Silas fears the day when guards come and remove his memories leaving him an empty shell. He is trapped in the Cartiam, a human farm, and knows escape is not possible, but he can't stop thinking about it. Especially when his older sister Malina is terrified her time will be coming soon. Ever since he was separated from his parents, Malina has taken care of him and now it's Silas's turn to protect her. He has to escape and take her with him. 

But when the owner comes to visit, things go from bad to worse. Jamar, the owner's son, singles Silas out and the extra attention brings Silas under the owner's microscope. The other kids in the Cartiam are unhappy with the way they are treated and rising emotions threaten to ruin all of Silas's plans. Yet worst of all, Malina herself isn't sure she wants to hang on. It is up to Silas to figure out the escape and fast. If he fails, he could lose everything he loves. 

Just reading the words "human farm" in the synopsis of Fadeout makes me shiver, but that's exactly what the Cartiam is - the place where Silas and his older sister Malina are forced to live from the time they are eight years old until their memories are harvested. The Cartiam's environment becomes even more unsettled when the owner and his son, Jamar, arrive.  

I wanted to love this book after reading its synopsis, but a few issues I had with the story kept me from fully embracing it. One of those issues was the main character Silas himself. He had zero personality and fell flat for me. I liked him enough to want him to be able to escape with his sister but didn't like him as much as I wanted to. I understood he had to keep his emotions bottled up or risk his memories being harvested, but I needed a way to connect with him somehow.  

I wanted to see him struggling more with indignation, passion, and rage stirring inside of him. All of those are emotions anyone would feel being trapped in a place like the Cartiam and being treated as less than human. Had the reader been let in on a secret emotional storm gathering in him while leaving him stoic on the outside, not only would the story still have worked, but I would have been able to care more about him and cheer him on with his plans for escaping.

Jamar, the son of the owner, is rich and spoiled with no idea what life is really like for the kids who are trapped in the Cartiam. He's ignorant about the world he lives in, which I couldn't completely blame him for that because it's how he was raised. He's brainwashed into thinking he's doing society a service. With that in mind, I did feel bad for him because he strives so hard for his father's approval but nothing he does ever seems good enough. His mother is even less emotionally available - she doesn't care he's gone all the time traveling with his father. 

When Jamar chooses Silas for company, I felt like he was picking out a new toy rather than a human being. I felt less sympathy for him when he felt superior to Silas. Of course he's going to know things Silas doesn't - Silas isn't allowed to have fun or learn to defend himself. 

What I didn't understand about Jamar is that once he gets to know Silas, he realizes he's brave and intelligent, which goes against what he's been taught about Silas's social class, yet he still looks down on the other members of Silas's social class. He views them as less than human and unworthy of anything except having memories to harvest, which makes him a hypocrite to me. Doesn't he wonder if he's wrong about the rest of the class, too? 

Briefly a Radiation Age is mentioned. Why was there a Radiation Age? How did it start? How did it end? I'd like to have found out more about that. 

Fadeout brought out sadness in me, and I felt the cloud of hopelessness and despair surrounding the kids growing up in the Cartiam. They were left to wonder when their memories would be stripped away - the parts of them that makes them who they are. 

Fadeout will make you think about the human condition, the way we humans treat each other, the memories and emotions we possess that make each of us unique, and the methods used to control people. With the way Fadeout ends, I want to know what happens next. I need to know what happens next. 

My Rating:

Review ~ Santa's Wayward Elf by Paige Tyler

Title: Santa's Wayward Elf

Author: Paige Tyler

Release date: November 29th 2013 

(first published November 15th 2011)

Genre: Contemporary, Christmas Themed Romance

Source: Review copy via Lovers of Paranormal (Goodreads) 

Recommended for 18+ due to sexual content

Add: Goodreads 

Synopsis

NOTE: This book has a guileless elf heroine you can't help but fall in love with, a hunky hero who knows how to come to a girl's - er, elf's - rescue, some serious kissing under the mistletoe and lots of steamy hot romance!

Being one of Santa's elves isn't all sugar plums and candy canes.

At least not for Sosie. Taller than the other elves, she's always had a problem fitting in at the North Pole, so when the transport sled she's on breaks down in New York City on Christmas Eve, she can't resist slipping away to explore the world of the "big people." While she's having fun, the transport sled takes off, leaving the naiive elf stranded.

Fortunately, handsome police detective Derek Clayton comes to her rescue, offering to let her stay at his apartment. Having heard horror stories about the big people, Sosie is both surprised and relieved to meet such a kind, sweet man. Not to mention one so gorgeous and well-built.

Even though Sosie expects the North Pole to send out a search party any day, she finds herself falling for Derek anyway. She desperately wants to tell him she's an elf, but knows he'll never believe her. When the lies and omissions start to pile up, Derek can draw only one conclusion - Sosie is working for the mob boss he's been after for years.

Just when things seem like they can't get any worse, the chief of elfin security shows up to drag Sosie back to the North Pole. How is a runaway elf supposed to overcome a determined security elf, dangerous mobsters and a suspicious boyfriend all while keeping her pointed ears secret?

SANTA'S WAYWARD ELF was a fun and imaginative read with lots of hot sex that made me blush. Paige Tyler's fresh take on elves, Santa, and the North Pole was entertaining. Sosie is an elf who isn't like the other elves - she's taller than all of them and isn't happy living in the North Pole any longer (where she makes sex toys by the way). And I thought only children's toys were made up there, lol! She's heading to the South Pole at her request when the transport sled she's on breaks down, and that's where her adventures begin.

Sosie is the kind of character you'll like right away. She's cute with her wide-eyed innocence and love of all things fun. While she was an outcast at the North Pole, she's seen as very gorgeous among humans. I couldn't help but worry about her trying to navigate her way among humans due to her lack of knowledge about our world, not to mention the fact that she's too trusting though the North Pole news makes elves think humans are violent and dangerous.

While Sosie is very naive, she's really experienced in bed. A lady in public, a tiger in the bedroom - every guy's dream, right? I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that a bit. While the sex scenes were super hot, her sexual expertise didn't seem to go with her personality. But there was also a lot of sweet romance. I did like Sosie and Derek together - they not only had sizzling chemistry but also could spend time together hanging out and having fun. They went well together.

I just wasn't that into Derek. I liked him in the beginning, then I didn't like him. I ended up liking him again later but not as much as I did in the beginning. If he's such a great guy like everyone he knows tells Sosie, why did he let himself get so easily talked into thinking she was this terrible person? It was obvious to me that she wasn't secretly working for a notorious mobster and not just because I knew her side of the story before he did.

I liked him, I just wasn't in LOVE with him. He is a good guy, but he turned ugly to me when he hurled insult after insult at Sosie. He took out his problems on her, and while that's a very human thing to do, it just wasn't right. She's so innocent! She doesn't know what so many things in the human world are called or used for - I don't know how he could have thought the worst of her. Okay, enough ranting, lol.

Overall, I enjoyed SANTA'S WAYWARD ELF. It's the perfect story to read anytime of the year. I particularly liked reading this book on a cold winter's day snuggled up in a warm blanket, but I'd read this any day of the year. Sosie is a fun character to get to know and hang out with, and the situations she gets into will make you laugh out loud. She just made the book with her spunk and hope that everything would turn out all right. 

My Rating: