Crash by Lisa McMann

Source: Publisher
If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. The suspenseful first of four books from the New York Timesbestselling author of the Wake trilogy.
Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.
What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.
The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more shesees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.
In this riveting start to a gripping series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.
Jules is a strong and funny character. A lot of the things that she thought or said made me laugh. As the visions become more detailed as the story went on, and I realized what Jules was experiencing. I also enjoyed that she was brave. Trey was a funny brother and his protective nature is something similar to what I experience with my brother. Rowan was a cute little sister and I liked that there was relationship between all of the siblings. Sawyer was really sweet and I liked that he didn't believe everything that Jules said. I also liked that their was a history between them. The plot of Crash was fast paced and exciting.  I just felt that the whole family feud thing was over the top. The vision of billboards, TVs, and ect was an interesting concept.  McMann's writing was good, but I feel that there are a lot of question that are left open that I wish I knew about. Overall, if you want a quick contemporary with a supernatural twist or enjoyed McMann's other books, I would recommend this book.

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Source: Won

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

Cryer's Cross was a really enjoyable book. I didn't exactly get Kendall, because her OCD was such a major part of her and overshadowed a lot of the questions that I had. I didn't understand exactly why dancing was so important to her or exactly how much Nico meant to her. I liked Jacian, he was a really sweet character. The plot of this book was really creepy with the WE chapters that were scattered through out the book. I liked it a lot. McMann also made sure to keep what was happening till the end, which created more suspense. This book was really enjoyable and creepy enough to make me want more. I highly recommend this to fans of the Wake Series or the Devouring Series, because it was really creepy and exciting.

Gone by Lisa McMann

Rating:
Characters: 16/20
Plot: 17/20
Originality: 18/20
Writing: 17/20
Recommendation: 17/20
Overall: 85/100 or B
Source: Bought
Janie has to make a final decision. She learned in Fade that going into dreams will make her blind and handicap. She could try to leave Cabel and live in a world of isolation. She know that Cabe will stay with her until she dies, he will never try to leave her. She has to choose between being strong psychically and mentally or continue her life as it is. Janie also meets her dad, who happens to be a dream catcher, too. She learns that her decision is not as easy as it seems, that this is a catch-22.
The characters weren't as strong as in the previous book. Janie was more moody then the last book. She has to decide which is the better decision, either ways she will lose something that is really important to her. Cabe wasn't as present at the other books, but I loved how supportive he was as always. The plot was a character driven plot, unlike the previous books in the series. I find the choice ideal interesting, because either way she loses something. At the same time, I could relate to it. We all have to make choices that have echoing effects on us in the past. This is a original book that had a great concept. McMann did a good job writing. I felt like the ending could have been more concrete, instead of being so opened ended. I do live her simple writing style that flows through out the book. This book was an interesting end to the series and I can't wait to see what McMann is writing next.

Check These out...

Simon Pluse is offering a free online short story by Lisa McMann. It’s a scene from Wake told from Cabel’s point-of-view. If you like the series as much as I like it, you will love it. Read it here.
Here is also a trailer for After, which I have read and love.

Fade by Lisa Mcmann

Rating: 5/5

Fade opens up just a few weeks after Wake wraps up. Janie and Cabel have start a relationship. They both aren't sure of how to feel about it, since they haven't had a real relationship or even felt close to anyone.
Janie is going undercover and infiltrating a sex scandal that is inside her school. A few calls have been made to a crime alert watch line, makes it seem that the teachers and students are fooling around. The captain wants them both to work together. Cabel doesn't want Janie to be on this one, but she makes the choice and is in.
Janie is learning more about her abilities and the draining effects that are present from a box of papers written by Miss Stubin.
After the outcome comes out, Cabel isn't able to handle the danger that Janie puts herself in and the relationship crumbles.
Mcmann's fast past plot and writing style is entertaining. It is fast paced and a real page turner. I really enjoyed going in to this further to this series. Also learning more about Janie's abilities was very entertaining and very fascinating. I love the characters. Cabel and Janie's relationship is really unique and interesting. I can't wait what to see happens in the next installment. There was also quite a bit of humor. If you like the first book, read this one for sure.
Peace out, Sarah

Sleepless by Terri Clark

Rating: 4/5

Summary: Trinty Micheals is able to walk throught dreams. She put away a murderer, Rafe as a pshychic and is known as "Dream Girl" after a leak. Kiri came to her about a year ago asking for help. Trinity's best friend Coral is going away for Soccor camp. Coral gives her a "homework assignment", she is suppose to buy a blue dress, go out more, and to go on a date.

Trinity meets Dan Devlin. He is the son of the defense lawyer that got Rafe off on insanity. Trinity's mother goes away to Europe on a long awaited trip. Soon, Trinity sees Rafe in her dreams and he can harm her. The only person to turn to is Dan. They find out that Rafe has escaped and will go after anyone to get to her. She must stay awake to stay alive.

Notes: This book is very supenseful, but has some romance. I found Dan to be very cute and I loved the little romance that was going on. I also found it to be a very quick read. I really liked the character. It was well written. Her dreamwalking didn't seem fake and was well developed. The pop culture refrences were also very nice and enjoyed them. This was amazing for a debut novel and I can't wait for more from Terri Clark. If you have read Lisa McMann's Wake, I am sure that you will enjoy this also.

Check out Terri Clark's blog: http://terriclark.livejournal.com/

Sleepless Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5AK9guCVKI

Happy Reading!

Peace out, Sarah.

Wake by Lisa McMann

Grade: 5/5

Summary: Janie isn't the typical seventeen year old. She gets sucked in to other people's dreams. No matter how much she tries to control it she can't. She has seen everything from flying to the classic standing in the front of everyone naked.

Janie lives on the "bad" side of town. Her mother is an alcoholic. She was friendless, until Carrie moved in next door. Carrie is plagued by dreams of a drowning boy that she can't help no matter what.

Janie keeps her ability a secret, because it could be disastrous to herself. She then finds Cabel. Everyone thinks he is a drug dealer and a pothead. As, she enters his dreams... he enters her life. His dreams can be very romantic one minute and the next minute, his dreams are very disturbing. With Cabel's dream, Janie finds that she's not just a watcher of people's dreams, she's a participant. And she's determined to help Cabel through his nightmare. Cabel kept Janie's secret, but as soon as she finally started to let him get close to her, he messed up.

Note: I read this book, in one night and I have re-read it. I don't tend to re-read books, because I have a lot of the other books to read. Wake is a mix of romance and realistic fantasy. I recommend this book to everyone. It is a page turner and you'll be wanting more Also, Fade will be coming out on February 10th, 2009. So don't miss that either.

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IpLhITWvs

Her Blog: http://lisamcmann.com/html/blog.html

Happy Reading!

Peace out, Sarah.