Book Review: Gravity by Melissa West

What I liked about this book is that the aliens are interesting and different.  Ok, of course, they are different but these have some unique features and characteristics plus they need humans to continue living.   Good descriptions make it even more interesting.  Gravity by Melissa West is a Taking Novel which refers to Ancients (aliens) taking from humans the substance they need to live.  Humans are required to wear a sleeping mask during this process and must not peek. 

Ari, the heroine is especially talented in warfare and trained in Special Ops by her father.  As an alien spy Jackson wants to learn all he can from her and other humans.  At the same time Ari and Jackson are trying to prevent a war between the Ancients and humans.  Ari will do what she can even if she must betray her father.  The planet Loge needs the  earth and its people. 

I am looking forward to the second book Hover and answers to many questions that came to mind. 

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic science fiction tale about the titular doctor who strives to create a superior race of people through horrific experiments that result in half-man, half-beast monstrosities.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd continues this chilling story through the perspective of Juliet Moreau, the doctor's daughter. She works as a maid in Victorian London, trying to forget the scandal of her father's experiments. When rumors reach her that her father is still alive, however, she embarks on a journey to the island to discover if he really is continuing to create creatures that are a terrible hybrid of man and animal.

The Madman's Daughter is a creepy horror story full of disturbing moments and shocking twists. Shepherd does a great job building off of Wells' original tale, and creates a love-to-hate villian in Doctor Henri Moreau. If you're sad to see Juliet's story end, never fear; the sequel, Her Dark Curiousity, is going to be released next year.

Cyborgs and Humans and Plague, Oh My!

It's the year 2076, and the human race has been decimated by an airborne virus known as RM. Women are mandated to become pregnant as often as possible in the hopes that a baby will be born immune--but it's been ten years and no infant survives more than 56 hours. Teenage medic Kira is convinced that the cure for RM lies with the Partials, a race of engineered cyborgs who were responsible for the release of the virus in the first place. In order to find the answers she wants, however, she has to capture a Partial first.

Half medical thriller, half dystopian, Partials by Dan Wells follows Kira as she tries to unlock the secret to curing the disease that has claimed so many lives around the world. The intrigue deepens when Samm, the Partial that Kira has captured, gives an entirely different perspective on the war that has dragged on for so long between the Partials and the humans.