Review: Alive (The Generation Trilogy, #1) by Scott Sigler

Alive (The Generation Trilogy, #1) by Scott Sigler
Publisher: Del Ray
Release Date: July 14th, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

From New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler comes something utterly new: a gripping sci-fi adventure trilogy in the vein of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. A group of young adults awake in a mysterious enclosed space with no knowledge of who they are or how they got there…and an indomitable young woman must lead them not only to answers but to survival.

A young woman awakes trapped in an enclosed space. She has no idea who she is or how she got there. With only her instincts to guide her, she escapes her own confinement—and finds she’s not alone. She frees the others in the room and leads them into a corridor filled with the remains of a war long past. The farther these survivors travel, the worse are the horrors they confront. And as they slowly come to understand what this prison is, they realize that the worst and strangest possibilities they could have imagined don’t even come close to the truth. 

My Thoughts:
What did I just read?!!  I have been begging for a book that is creepy and all things dark and this book just gave it to me on a bloodied silver platter!!

Okay so at the end of my ARC the author asks reviewers not to give spoilers which I get.  If I gave even one spoiler away the whole book would be ruined and I think readers need to devour this with knowledge of the secrets held within.  I will tell you that this book is like a lava cake.  You know the ones where you stare at just waiting to cut through the middle to see the dark chocolate rush out at you?  This is just like that cake.  I kept staring at the pages knowing that very soon the author was going to type one word and all these darkly delicious words would come spilling out and boy did they.  I am still in awe over the wickedness that is this authors mind.  Pure brilliant.

The one and only thing that bothered me was the borderline romance/triangle.  Its WAY in the background, but it's still there and this story doesn't need it at all.  I felt like it even cheapened it in a way.  Does every YA novel have to have this?  I'm hoping and praying that soon somebody will write a YA book that has zero romance.  Stop looking at me that way I can't help it.  I want creepy without the side of romance and this book came so close!

Alive is still a fantastic read.  The characters really came alive and I am really hoping this is the beginning of a series.  I think I would be okay if things ended with this book, but there is so much more I want to know. Maybe a prequel would help because really the backstory is the one I am craving.

That's all I am going to say.  I won't spoil anything for you, but if my crazy review hasn't made you want to pick this up then listen to me now.  PICK THIS UP SOON!  It is amazing and gory and just everything I wanted in a creepy book.  Scott Sigler you are on my top ten authors to follow my friend!

4.5 snowflakes

The lovely people at audible have sent us a sample from the audiobook!  I think the audio version would be amazing!!  Take a listen..

Review: Alive by Chandler Baker

Alive by Chandler Baker
Publisher-Disney-Hyperion
Released-June 9th 2015
Pre-Order- Amazon / B&N

Stella Cross's heart is poisoned.After years on the transplant waiting list, she's running out of hope that she'll ever see her eighteenth birthday. Then, miraculously, Stella receives the transplant she needs to survive.Determined to embrace everything she came so close to losing, Stella throws herself into her new life. But her recovery is marred by strange side effects: Nightmares. Hallucinations. A recurring pain that flares every day at the exact same moment. Then Stella meets Levi Zin, the new boy on everyone's radar at her Seattle prep school. Stella has never felt more drawn to anyone in her life, and soon she and Levi are inseparable.
Stella is convinced that Levi is her soul mate. Why else would she literally ache for him when they are apart?After all, the heart never lies...does it?

My Thoughts: 
Well dame! This book is not what I was expecting. Alive is a spine-tingling, creeptastic thriller contemporary that was both emotionally moving and chill-worthy. I get all goose-bumpy just thinking about it!

Stella Cross, was only 15 years old when her heart started to fail her and has been on a waiting list for a transplant for the last two years, but she finally gets the heart transplant that saved her life. Not being able to really do anything since she got sick, Stella is living large and doing things that she wouldn't be able to do before. But the side effects are starting to wear her down. Hallucinations, nightmares and extreme pain at the same time each day has Stella writhing in exhaustion. So when new student, Levi Zin arrives and he and Stella seem to hit it off instantly, Stella is shocked to learn that there is no pain when Levi is around and is convinced that he is the only thing she'll ever need. After all, the heart wants what it wants....right?

First off, I gotta say that I really loved the direction Baker took with this story. I went into this expecting it to go a particular way only to be shutter-shocked when it took the less obvious approach. I also didn't expect this to be such a thriller and loved that gripping and dark edge laced throughout the entire story. I thought the hallucinations and nightmares were wickedly freaky but it was the connection that we learn later that made them such a huge impact. There was also some much needed suspension of disbelief  that I had to take with this book, but I still wish we could have gotten some more answers for the why's and how's of it all. Still, I can't deny everything really flowed together at an exciting and intriguing pace and the writing was simply incredible.

Stella isn't a character I come across very often. She's developed in a particular way that made her come off as stubborn, reckless, uptight, jaded and if I'm being truthful, not very likeable. But by the end of the story I realized that certain elements may have played a larger role for Stella's attitude and how she treated everyone around her, so really, how can I fault her for that?

Levi Zin is one complicated hot mess. He's mysterious, complex, intense and very charming and had more then his share of swoon-worthy moments. But there was always something in the back of my mind that made me not want to trust him. Something off. Very off.

Believe it or not, the relationship between Stella and Levi wasn't exactly insta-love, but it did border on unhealthy obsession to the point where Stella would be unhinged whenever she is with Levi or apart. Henry and Brynn were my only constant characters that I really loved. Henry is such a sweetheart, adorable, supportive and protective and everyone needs a Brynn in there life to tell ya how it really is. The overall ending was a little quick and I wish we could have gotten some kind of plausible explanations, but it was still satisfying enough and left me happy and content.

Bottom line, I had a lot of fun with this book. It's unpredictable, mysterious, emotional and fantastically twisted. Chandler Baker is an author to look out for. This was an amazing debut and I look forward to seeing more books in the future from this talented author.

Find the author:
Goodreads / Twitter                               4 snowflakes

Teaser Tuesday #90 Alive by Scott Sigler

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays! Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! My Teaser Tuesday is for the following...


Alive by Scott Sigler
Publisher: Del ReyExpected Publication Date: July 14, 2015

For fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Risingcomes a gripping sci-fi adventure in which a group of teenagers wake up in a mysterious corridor with no knowledge of who they are or how they got trapped. Their only hope lies with an indomitable young woman who must lead them not only to answers but to survival. 

“I open my eyes to darkness. Total darkness. I hear my own breathing, but nothing else. I lift my head . . . it thumps against something solid and unmoving. There is a board right in front of my face. No, not a board . . . a lid.”

A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief—she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people . . . and no answers.

She knows only one thing about herself—her name, M. Savage, which was engraved on the foot of her coffin—yet she finds herself in charge. She is not the biggest among them, or the boldest, but for some reason the others trust her. Now, if they’re to have any chance, she must get them to trust each other.

Whatever the truth is, she is determined to find it and confront it. If she has to lead, she will make sure they survive. Maybe there’s a way out, a rational explanation, and a fighting chance against the dangers to come. Or maybe a reality they cannot comprehend lies just beyond the next turn.

Teasers from page 7

(If you run, your enemy will hunt you. Kill your enemy, and you are forever free.)

Teaser from page 39

"So that's all you know," he says. "That's it?"

I nod.

"Then you don't know much."

He doesn't say it accusingly. It's a fact. 

"We," I say. "We don't know much."

He nods slowly. "We. Yes, we."

There is strength in that word. 

*PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here if you don’t have a blog Thanks!