Book Review: Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs

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Powerless
The Hero Agenda #1
Author: Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: June 2nd 2015
Review Source: Sourcebooks Fire

Kenna is tired of being "normal". The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates.

She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.

I so did not expect this book in more ways than one. Powerless is the story of an ordinary girl in a world full of heroes and villains. This, amongst other subjects throughout the novel, make for pretty common themes, however this book holds its own. I am a huge fan of both Marvel and DC, so I am not new to the superhero world but I don’t think I’ve read many, if at all, novels about superheroes and villains and I’m glad this was my first.

Kenna, our main protagonist, is the ordinary girl who lives surrounded by individuals with superpowers. To Kenna, these heroes are the protectors of the ordinary humans like her, and have a great responsibility to use their powers wisely. As much as Kenna admires these heroes, she can’t help but feel a little resentful at the fact that she’s so well, plain. However, just because she doesn’t have powers doesn’t mean she’s powerless. The one ability Kenna has is that she is immune to all powers, this in fact is her most guarded secret because that shouldn’t be possible. On an ordinary night at the lab, a research facility run by the supers where her mother works for, Kenna’s night becomes not so ordinary and her life and everything she knows turns completely upside down.

Without giving away anything too detailed, the premise of this novel is that the good guys aren’t always good and the bad guys aren’t always the vile villains everyone makes them out to be. Kenna will be forced to acknowledge some hard truths and face the fact that everything is not black and white, there’s a whole grey area that she is about to discover.

Full of action, adventure, and a quest to figure out the truth, Kenna will make unlikely allies, new enemies, and maybe (possibly) get a chance at love in the midst of all this craziness. I very easily became attached to these characters (cough Draven cough) and I cannot wait to read the sequel and see what else is in store for this mismatched team of heroes and villains.

Blog Tour: Relentless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs | Guest Post | Giveaway

Welcome to the first stop on Relentless tour for Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs. 

This tour is hosted by Sourcebooks.

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Relentless
The Hero Agenda #2
Author: Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Horror
Released: May 17 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Revenge is easy, but justice is worth fighting for…

Kenna is tired of being lied to—and hunted by the very allies she once trusted. Unearthing the dark secrets of the superhero world has not only endangered her life, now her boyfriend faces execution for crimes he didn’t commit and her mother is being held captive in a secret governmental prison.

Kenna is determined to stand up for what’s right and save those she loves from unspeakable fates. It’s time for the betrayal to end. It’s time for the real criminals to face justice.

But the truth is even more terrifying than Kenna could imagine. A conspiracy threatens the fate of heroes, villains, and all of humanity. If Kenna’s going to survive, she must draw on her deepest strength: her resilience. Because when Kenna’s pushed to the limit, she doesn’t break down. She fights back.

What YA books do you recommend for new readers?

Oh, wow, this is a really hard question. There are so many brilliant YA novels out right now that it’s hard for me to even think about narrowing it down. But I’ll try to list only my absolute favorites and see where that gets me!!!

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson—I read this book for the first time four or five years ago and I still think it’s one of the best young adult novels ever written. The story of a teenage girl trying to recover from her older sister’s very unexpected death all while torturing herself with what should have been, The Sky is Everywhere is beautiful, poignant, and both sad and exhilarating by turns. I can’t tell you how much I love it!!!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff—This book is set in a galaxy far, far away and is totally Space Opera meets Top Gun, all with a psychopathic computer at the helm. Told as a case study after the fact, it is a fascinating book to look at with its redacted files and computer generated graphics. It’s also an incredibly compelling read, one that had me languishing in a bathtub of long gone cold water one winter night because I couldn’t stop reading it long enough to get out of the tub and get warm.

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett—I don’t even know what to say to express how much I love this book. I read it on a whim a few months ago and I love, love, love, love, love it. It’s the story of a very talented artist who is trying to win a very competitive scientific art scholarship so she can pursue her dream of being an anatomical illustrator. She’s a girl who plays by the rules, who totally believes in playing it safe, and who—somehow—manages to fall for a boy who is the exact opposite of everything she believes in. Disclaimer: I have a soft spot for graffiti artists, so Jack totally made my heart go pitter-pat.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (and it’s follow up, Homeland)—I love these books. I mean, I REALLY LOVE THESE BOOKS. But then, I love everything that Cory Doctorow writes, so that’s not a surprise. These two books take place in the near future San Francisco and start with a bang when someone plants a bomb in the city. The main character, Winston, has skipped school to do an advanced kind of geocaching/Larping with his friends and is mistaken by Homeland Security as a terrorist who might have planted the bombed. They kidnap him, then hold him without representation as they interrogate and torture him for days. When he is finally released, he is scared and suffering from PTSD. But as the fear fades, anger grows and Winston uses his very advanced hacking skills to take on a dystopian government that has far exceeded its jurisdiction.

The Farm by Emily McKay—This, too, is a dystopian novel, but it’s all horror. A virus has taken over the population of America, and it’s rapidly turning everyone infected into a Tick—a kind of hybrid vampire/zombie that is more terrifying and destructive than you can even imagine. The teenagers who aren’t infected are shipped to farms where they are supposed to be safe. But it’s not long after getting there that they realize the true reason these farms exist—not to protect them, but to provide the rampaging Tick population with food. This is the story of Lily, a girl determined to break herself and her twin, autistic sister, out of The Farm before their seventeenth birthdays, when they will stop being blood donors and become actual live prey. It’s horrifying and terrifying and I love it so, so much!

There are dozens more books that should make this list, but these are my favorites from five different subgenres of YA. I’d love to hear what you think—about these books, if you’ve read them, or other books that you’ve read that make your own favorites list!!!

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Tera Lynn Childs is the RITA-award-winning and bestselling author of teen fiction about a mythological high school, mermaid princesses, monster-hunting triplet descendants of Medusa, and dark fae princes.

Tracy Deebs is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and critically-acclaimed author who writes under many pseudonyms, including young adult novels about surfing mermaids and technological armaggeddon.

Thanks to Sourcebooks, we have TWO copies of Powerless, the first book of The Hero Agenda series.

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Blog Tour: Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs | Except | Giveaway

We are thrilled to be part of this tour for author Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs. This tour is hosted by Sourcebooks Fire!

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Powerless
The Hero Agenda #1
Author: Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Kenna is tired of being "normal". The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates.

She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.

EXCERPT

If I could have any superpower, right now, I’d choose the ability to reach through glass. One thin, little pane is all that separates me from bliss…of the midnight-snack variety, to be exact. The chocolate bar hangs halfway to freedom but refuses to take the plunge, as if the vending machine is mocking me, taunting me.
As if it knows I’m powerless.
Annoyed, I slam my palms against the glass. Everything inside shudders. My chocolate bar—pure Swiss milk chocolate dotted with toasted hazelnuts—doesn’t budge.
“Come on,” I beg as if the candy can hear me. “Just a little farther.”
No such luck.
Then again, when have I ever been lucky? I’m just glad no heroes are around to see me lose a battle with a vending machine. I would be the punch line to every joke for a year.
Thankfully, the lab is pretty much empty at this time of night. Even Mom went home two hours ago, leaving me to transcribe the notes from today’s sessions. I prefer to work when no one is around. My experiments fall into a gray area in the Superhero Code of Conduct, and even though I’m not technically a superhero—yet—I try not to piss off the powers-that-be. The last thing I need is to lose my lab privileges before I’ve perfected my formula.
Copying down Mom’s scribblings is like deciphering some previously unknown ancient language. It isn’t exactly the most glamorous summer job ever, but it pays okay and gives me access to the facility.
I’m almost done with tonight’s transcription from the digital white board Mom and her team spent all day filling with chemical equations for her newest power-enhancing formula. Maybe twenty more minutes, and then I can get back to my test samples.
My stomach rumbles in protest, reminding me that I skipped dinner. I really want that stupid chocolate bar. But since I just used my last quarters, my only hope is that one of the security guards upstairs has change for a ten.
I turn away from the vending machine alcove and start back around the corner to grab my wallet from the lab.
Right before I make the turn, I hear hurried footsteps. Not wanting a repeat of last week’s collision with Dr. Harwood—my favorite jeans still smell like sulfur—I hang back a step.
But the boy who rushes around the corner looks nothing like the balding, old scientist who works nearly as many late nights as I do.
No, this guy is tall and lean, but not too skinny. He’s got major biceps and I can see the outline of some pretty impressive muscles beneath his shirt. Yum. He’s probably about my age or a little older, eighteen or nineteen maybe. And everything about him is shrouded in black—his tee and jeans, his heavy-duty boots, his shoulder-length hair—everything but his eyes.
If we weren’t in superhero central, I’d say he looks like a stereotypical villain.
You’d think with all that darkness, he’d be nothing more than shadow. But he’s all angles: his cheekbones, his jaw, even the collarbones I can see peeking out from the low neckline of his tee. Light seems to reflect off him like moon glow at midnight. Surrounded by all that sculpted darkness, his icy blue irises burn like the hottest flames.
Our gazes collide, and though I know it’s vain, I instantly wish my hair wasn’t pulled back in a messy braid and that I was wearing something—anything—more appealing than my dad’s ratty old 1996 Stanley Cup Champions tee.
Hot guys in the underground lab are few and far between—Who am I kidding? Hot guys in my life are few and far between—so most of my wardrobe choices involve comfort and whether I mind if the garment gets ruined by acid, dye, or any of a million other compounds we work with every day.
If my best friend, Rebel, were here, she’d be doing an I-told-you-so dance because she’s been wanting to give me a makeover forever. That, and she’d already have his number and email address, and they’d be making plans for their date this weekend. Me, I can’t even manage a simple “hello.”
The fact that he’s scowling at me, those dark brows slashing low over those bright eyes, isn’t helping anything.
“The lab is supposed to be empty,” he says.
His voice is flat, but his comment almost feels like an accusation.
“I’m working late,” I answer, trying not to sound defensive. “What are you doing here?”
He lifts an eyebrow. “You’re working in the hall?”
“I needed a break to come get chocolate,” I say, gesturing at the vending machine behind me.
He nods down at my empty hands. “You don’t have any chocolate.”
“That thing hates me. Took my money and kept the candy bar.”
In a graceful movement that looks almost choreographed, Dark-and-Scowly steps around me and up to the greedy machine. He presses his palms to the glass, just like I did. Hey, maybe he has the power to reach through glass. After all, around here pretty much everyone but me has some kind of super ability.
When his hands don’t immediately sink through the surface, I say, “I tried smacking it already. Didn’t work.”
Moving his hands closer to the edge, he curls his fingers around the frame. Then, with his boots braced on the floor, he gives the whole machine a solid shove. The heavy hunk of metal rocks back once, then comes forward, its front legs hitting the tile floor with a sharp thud. On impact, the chocolate bar sails against the glass before falling into the trough below.
He turns to face me, a cocky smile twisting one side of his mouth. “Takes a special touch.”
I duck down and reach through the hinged door to grab the candy bar.
“You’re my hero,” I joke.
He snorts. “Right.”

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Tracy Deebs is a national bestselling and criticially-acclaimed author who writes under many different pseudonyms. Tera Lynn Childs is the RITA-award-winning author of two mythology-based novels (Dutton’s Children’s), and a kick-butt trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa (Katherine Tegen).

 

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Waiting on Wednesday: Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Powerless

The Hero Agenda #1

Author: Tera Lynn Childs

Release Date: June 2nd 2015

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Kenna is tired of being "normal". The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates.

She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.

Audiobook Review: Just for Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Just for Fins
Fins #3
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Reader: Emily Bauer
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Fantasy/Mermaids
Run-time: 6 hrs 12 mins
Released: July 3rd 2012
Review Source: Harper Audio
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) When Lily Sanderson decided to remain Crown Princess Waterlily of the mermaid kingdom Thalassinia, she knew she couldn’t just coast along in the current. But since she’s spent the last couple of years on land—with gorgeous human Quince by her side—Lily’s not sure she has the fins to lead a kingdom. Even her maddeningly pretentious cousin Dosinia seems to know more about ruling than she does.

But Lily has to dive in deep to keep her promise to Tellin, her mer bond in name only, whose kingdom is suffering in the changing ocean climate. Lily knows this is a seven seas–sized problem: from sea animals dying to oil spills and threats to humans. They’ll need to create some serious waves to make the mer community aware and get it to join together to make things right. Even if that means facing one of the iciest queens in the mer kingdoms.

Just when Lily thinks her double life on land and sea can’t get any more complicated, an ancient mer law might separate Lily and Quince after all. It feels as if the pair is up against a solid tsunami wave!

In this third installment in the series that began with Forgive My Fins and Fins Are Forever, Lily will have to find a way to balance safety and justice for the mer people as well as for the humans she loves.

Its official, Lily Sanderson is now Crown Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia. Lily is living on land and is happy to do so. She is also trying to keep up with her duties as princess which she finds her cousin Doe has a better handle on than she does. When an underwater quake shakes up more than her home on land Lily sets out to do all that she can to make the world a safe place for humans and mer folk alike. Lily thinks she may be able to do more good on land where she can study the happenings above the water that are affecting the mer-world under water. As she sets out to do just that she offered a great opportunity to further her education and get a degree that can put her in a position to help on both sides.

One afternoon, Lily gets a surprise visit from her Dad the King where she is told that in order for her to stay with Quince the boy she loves, even through their bond was broken and she has bonded to Telen for the sake of keeping her title and helping out Telen’s kingdom, Quince will be put through a series of tests to prove his love for her. If he does not pass then he is banned from the ocean forever and she will not be able to return to land. This poor mer-girl has her hands full. How can she balance all this and try to save the mer-world that is suffering and the human world from a Mer-queen with an agenda?

I have to give it to Narrator Emily Bauer. She does a great job keeping you in the moment with this story. She has a knack for making you feel what the characters are feeling. When someone is upset, excited, happy or tired, it comes through in her narration. I got swallowed up in this story and it was hard to pull me away. The audio is nice and clean and a joy to listen to.

Audiobook Review: Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs

Fins are Forever
Fins #2
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Reader: Emily Bauer
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Fantasy/Mermaids
Run-Time: 6 hrs 50 Mins
Released: July 10th 2012 (audio)
Review Source: Harper Audio
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mergirl, true, but signing the renunciation will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being-human thing once and for all.

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, the waves start to get rough. Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?

The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up—Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?

Lily is happy on land and spending time with her love Quince, while getting ready to celebrate her 18thbirthday in Thalassinia. The thing is, by Thalassinia law, if Lily is not bonded by her 18th birthday she must give up her title as Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia. She is ready to do just that when she gets a visit from her trouble making cousin Dosinia. Doe shows up at Aunt Rachel’s with a note from Daddy letting her know that she has been tasked with keeping an eye on Doe and keeping her out of trouble. Problem is Doe hates humans and is now exiled from Thalassinia and has to stay on land.

This is an adventure that will take you through the struggles of a teenage mer-girl who feels that she has been wronged by the very species she is now forced to live with. As if Lily didn’t have enough to deal with, she is trying to find out what Doe did that was bad enough to get her exiled and trying to get ready to make a life altering decision. All the while, Doe is getting really friendly with Brody, Lily’s former crush. One thing leads to another and before you know it, Lily is rushing back to Thalassina to fix Docinia’s latest mistake which will bring Lily face to face with an old friend and the need to re-evaluate her decision to give up her future seat on the throne. Will Lily stay on land with the boy she loves or help out her old friend and possibly the entire mer-world?

Narrator Emily Bauer brings the characters to life in a bright and fun way. She is easy to listen to and makes the characters easy to love. She does really well with the female voices but at first I found it hard to tell when she was reading Quince and when she was reading Brody.

All in all I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to any young girl that loves mermaids. The audio is crisp and easy to fall into. If you don’t have time to sit down and read the book, Audio is the way to go.

Audiobook Review: Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Forgive My Fins
Fins #1
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Reader: Emily Baur
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Released: January 1st 2010
Review Source: Harper Audio
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Sometimes your head just isn’t ready for the truth that your heart already knows. Mermaid Princess Lily Sanderson is about to find this out for herself. Lily has been living life as a human and in love with the same unavailable boy, Brody Bennet, for three years. Brody finally becomes available just in time for the Under the Sea Costume Dance at Seaside High. While waiting for Brody to respond to the instructions she left him in a note claiming to be his very newly ex-girlfriend, the one boy that truly annoys the carp out of her, manages to trick her into kissing him. What the motorcycle riding, leather wearing Quincy Fletcher did not know, was that that single kiss was going to change both of their lives forever.

This book is one that I would recommend to any young girl. It’s super cute and refreshingly clean while touching on a lot of the issues that most teenagers face on a daily basis. Tera Lynn Childs did a wonderful job writing a story about Love, Friendship and Family. Narrator Emily Bauer truly brought the characters to life though there were a few parts where until Lily said who she was talking to I wasn't sure if it was Brody or Quince.

I was a huge fan of the Little Mermaid and remember wishing I was Ariel when I was younger. After reading Forgive My Fins, I think I’d like to spend some time in Lily’s fins and see where the rest of her journey will take me. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series, Fins Are Forever.