The 11th Hour

Title: The 11th Hour
Author: Kristine Scarrow
Genre: YA, Thriller
Source: Ebook - Net galley
Rating:  3 out of 5 stars




Annika thinks she is in love.  Dylan is everything a young girl could want and she believes her future lies with him.  When she begins to neglect her friends, work and quits her activities her parents try to protect her by saying she cannot see him.  But she knows he loves her and their future will be a fairy tale.  That is until she runs away with him, and discovers he is not the person she thought he was and is in need so professional help. But with her safety at risk, she doesn't know what to do or who to turn to.

*I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I didn't know what I was expecting when I picked up this book. I'm still a little torn after finishing it. Everything I read about it has me torn and I am not sure where to even begin.  It opens with their plans to run away nothing leading up to it, just Annika planning her morning so she can runaway without a second thought.  We get snippets of a backstory but in my opinion it's not enough to form an real opinion or attachment to the kids.  The POVs were difficult to read.  Annika simply came off as the annoying teenage girl that gives us everything and I mean everything for a boy she just started dating (we aren't told how long they have dated before they decide to just run away), friends, activities even work.  Dylan's POV is choppy and unfinished sentences.


There is a lot that happens in this novel and it all happens in a span of 11 hours which seems a little too fast paced.  I almost wish the story was drawn out a little more.  Sometimes a longer book the builds up the suspense and story is better than a shorter one that just throws readers unexpected right into the middle of the conflict.  One good thing is that readers will not expect the outcome of the story, you might think you do but Scarrow pulls out a twist and surprises her readers. 


I understand what the message Scarrow was trying to convey and it is an important one: mental illness is a serious disease that 1) one should not be ashamed of, 2) talked openly about rather than hidden especially from those we love, and 3) needs to have more awareness.  But I don't think it was conveyed in a proper way.  Granted Dylan's depression and inability to handle stress even after a short amount of time was something important to show.  I think it could been drawn out rather than all at once.  The build up is important.


I would suggest it, I think young adults would enjoy reading it and get lost into the darker folds of the story.

Solomon's Ring

Title: Solomon's Ring
AUthor: Mary Jennifer Payne
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars




Jade and Jasmine are twins sisters who have finally been reunited after 5 years.  They have that special twin connection, but they are also Seers known as Daughters of Light.  Their city is being overrun by demons who are coming over through the rift, or so it seems.  While fighting a demon, Jasmine is plague with the question of why he referred to her as the chosen one.  Throughout all this she also discovers someone has stolen a powerful ring, one that could control the demons.  It has become a race against time as the Daughters of Light enter into a battle with the forces of darkness.  Will it be too late?





The idea of this book is fantastic.  I like the idea of twin sisters feeding off of each other's strengths and weaknesses, really being a team against the forces of evil rather than a guy and girl teaming up together and the inevitable romance ensues. This is one of the main reasons why I requested it from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review, because it seemed like something out of the ordinary in the world of YA novels. The cover features the twins with a ring with the Star of David in the middle makes me interested to see what the story had to do with Judaism.




From the very beginning of the book the reader has to distinguish between speakers as it changes between the two sisters' viewpoints, while this isn't something that I mind, but the chapters seem rather short and the reader doesn't get enough time with one or the other to really feel a connection with her.  I understand the girls are to be Latinas, but the dialogue doesn't really suggest this other than a few random Spanish words entering into conversations...at random.  There could be a conversation in English and then boom one random Spanish word that makes it feel disconnected and out of place.  I honestly had a hard time connecting climate change terrorism with the acts of the demons and how that played a large role into the story, but I will admit I had a hard time finishing this book as well.


The different perspective between the sisters do not seem to sync up with each other which makes it hard to pinpoint a timeline of events for the story.  The story feels very choppy and difficult to follow.  While the cover shows a ring with the Star of David the story did not show anything related to Judaism, I am not sure if it will come up later in other books.  I don't know if I would continue reading this series because of how disjoined this novel felt.  I don't think I would recommend it either.