Wake Trilogy by Lisa McMann

Once again I read a whole series before reviewing any of the books. Mostly I did this because I am often behind in my posting. This time, I couldn't wait to read all three books in the Wake trilogy, so I basically checked out all three (ok, I bought the first one) and read them all...almost in one sitting.

Wake is the first book in the series. In Wake, we learn that Janie has a unique gift. Or curse. She, against her will, gets pulled into the dreams of the people around her. So when people fall asleep and start dreaming, often Janie is right there with them. Experiencing their dreams...or nightmares. Sometimes she can pull herself out, but not often. She starts noticing Cabel and realizes she's been in his nightmares before. His especially are scary.

When she realizes something big is happening in Cabel's life, she has a decision to make--help him or stay away from him.

And without giving the ending away of Wake, I can't talk about Fade or Gone. Just that Janie's powers grow as well as her ability to control them. And she has to make a life-altering decision before the series is over.

What I liked most about the series was the characters. Janie and Cabel are well-written and realistic. Janie's abilities are odd, yes, but fit into the storyline and come across as believable. Fade especially has been hard to get out of my head, but that's because the situation Janie finds herself in is so disturbing. Highly recommended, but perhaps for older teens.

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Ok, this is one of the strangest books I've read in a long time. Nothing is explained right away, so it's hard to describe without giving too much information away.

Fancy and her older sister Kit live with their mom in a town named Portero. Their father, known as the Bonesaw Killer, is currently in jail due to the people he murdered, hacked up, and hid all over town. Portero isn't just any town however. It bridges a gap between our reality and others, so there are all sorts of creatures who come out to play--monsters. There are also doors that lead other places and those doors can be dangerous.

Back to Fancy and Kit. The two of them share a love of killing things, just like their father. When the first embark on their rampage, they decide to limit their killings to people who deserve it. Fancy worries about getting caught, so she is granted a wish of having a place where the bodies will never be found. This opens a door to the 'happy place' where everything is under Fancy and Kit's control. But soon that's not enough for Kit...in fact, she loses some of her taste for murder as she gets more interested in boys.

And Fancy never foresaw the repercussions of doing something 'good' for their fellow townspeople.

A very strange book. Some romance but mostly blood. Not really fantasy, but not really realistic fiction either. I did enjoy it, but really very strange.