**Giveaway Alert** Dualed by Elsie Chapman

Summary from Goodreads:

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 You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

  

Sounds like an interesting read! I’ve always been interested in clone-related fiction – after all, there are so many unanswered questions! Do the clones have souls? Will they look identical (after all, cloned pets often turn out different from the original, despite being an exact genetic match)? Clones usually grow to adulthood very quickly – will they continue to age at that same rate or do they have the same natural lifespan? And, of course, what is the purpose of clones? Are they spare parts? A way to live forever? A way to create an heir?  I will definitely be adding this to my TBR shelf!

 

****REVIEW & GIVEAWAY****

 

If you like the sound of Dualed, check out Midnight Garden’s awesome review for more information! PLUS, Midnight Garden is giving away a copy!  Make sure you check it out here!

 

 

Anathema by Megg Jensen -- 4.5 Stars!

Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny. 

Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.

Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

 The Idea: 

Reychel has been a slave her entire life, not even realizing that she was "gifted" (a.k.a. has magical abilities). Her escape from her master begins a period of a couple months learning about her abilities, her destiny, and her very identity. Turns out she's the Prophet that her people have been waiting for for seven generations! Her abilities as the Prophet have given her master a LOT of money and power over the years, so after a couple months of desperate searching, he's still unwilling to let her go. He forces Reychel to choose either to turn herself in, or allow him to execute some of the very people she's supposed to save. BUT, it turns out someone else has been pulling Reychel's strings for years and she's even more dangerous...

 Some Particulars: 

Nothing about the world was particularly unusual -- it could have been earth in some medieval culture. The Malborn have enslaved Reychel's people, the Sereniens, and the council of the gifted have been rescuing gifted slaves in their search for the Prophet. Reychel's master lives in a castle, and is referred to as a lord and one of many nobles. 

Reychel was a likable, honest character who wasn't painfully sappy, overly dramatic, painstakingly sweet, or even unrealistically tough. She was a very down-to-earth, NORMAL girl, who turned out to have a really cool power: she can read the future, the present, and maybe even the past on the clouds! 

The other characters also came across well, most not particularly well-developed, but I'm hoping to see more of them in the next book! Mark, the main love interest, is guarded and puzzling, yet there's some kind of connection with Reychel that is enjoyable. Ivy is a cunning character that I loved to hate, Johnna was motherly and wise, and Tania was sisterly and fun. Grey and Ella I'm just dying to know more about because they were just barely there but so cool! They obviously will be coming back into the story, and are both capable characters that I'm hoping will become major players.

 My opinion: 

The concept of the gifted is done well, and the plot, while somewhat predictable, was engaging and very well-paced. Reychel was a refreshing character that could be honestly related to and you wanted her to figure things out. I really enjoyed it, and I think it will be a hit for YA fantasy fans! I can't wait to check out the next book in the trilogy!

Check out Megg Jensen's blog for more info about her other books!

A-Z Reading Challange

I just joined the YA Book Club on Goodreads and will be attempting the 2013 A-Z Reading Challenge!  In 12 months, I will read 26 books (at least 13 have to be YA).  In order to count, either the first word in the title of the books or the author’s name (first or last) should correspond with a letter in the alphabet (omitting “a” and “the” in the titles).  There are 3 exceptions: the letters Q, X and Z can be anywhere in the titles or author names (THANK GOODNESS!!).

So then, I've got my list together, but I haven't started yet and I’m already a month behind!
Some of these books have been on my Kindle for a while – languishing, unread, and neglected – so this is good motivation to get them read!  I tried to chose some fantasy, some paranormal, some historical, some scifi…the only thing I don’t really have is any normal, contemporary fiction, lol!  I like to avoid the real world when I read :-) 

Without further ado, I present my A-Z Reading List:

A) Anathema -- Megg Jensen
B) Betrayal -- Mayandree Michel
C) Cypher, The -- Julian Rosado-Machain
D) Den, The -- Jennifer Abrahams
E) Entangled -- Nikki Jefford
F) Fallen Star, The -- Jessica Sorensen
G) Genesis -- Jason Rowe
H) Hollowland -- Amanda Hocking
I) Ignite -- Kaitlyn Davis
J) Job From Hell, A -- Jayde Scott
K) Kindred -- Erica Stevens
L) Leopard Moon -- Jeanette Battista
M) Medium, The -- C.J. Archer
N) Night Marchers -- Rebecca Gober
O) On Little Wings -- Regina Sirois
P) Poison Princess -- Kresley Cole
Q) Prince of Wolves -- Quinn Loftis
R) Ravenous -- Erica Stevens
S) Soulkeepers, The -- G.P. Ching
T) Tiger Lily -- Jodi Lynn Anderson
U) Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, The -- Sariah Wilson
V) Verita -- Tracy Rozzlynn
W) Way Life Was Forever, The -- Carey Corp
X) Entanglement -- Dan Rix
Y) Yseult -- Ruth Nestvold
Z) Zomblog -- T.W. Brown 


Do you like my list? What would your list look like if you did this?