Shards and Ashes

The Dark Discovery of Jack Dandy. Through the Ever Night. A Beautiful Creatures Story. Into the Still Blue. The Girl with the Windup Heart. The Girl with the Iron Touch. If I Should Die. Under the Never Sky. A Court of Frost and Starlight. A Reaper at the Gates. A Mystic City Novel. Soul Screamers Volume Three. Watcher in the Woods. The Complete Season 1. A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying. The Dark and Hollow Places. Men of the Otherworld. We Can Be Mended. The Dead Girls' Dance. Outcast Season, Book One.

What Once We Feared: Shadows of the Lost Sun. How to write a great review. The review must be at least 50 characters long. The title should be at least 4 characters long. Your display name should be at least 2 characters long. Mar 29, Diana rated it really liked it. Creepy, heartbreaking, compelling, extraordinary and so much more.

I love the idea of hearkens especially the idea that music could be the only thing to save the world. I just think it was really fast paced and it would be better if it will be a book. I'd definitely read it! What I liked the most was the reality in it that was presented.

Shards & Ashes : Melissa Marr :

People getting tossed outside, b Creepy, heartbreaking, compelling, extraordinary and so much more. People getting tossed outside, branding supernaturals, the hybrids and the life outside the fortress. I didn't understand what was happening and I have to go back once in a while to read things again. The story was really disturbing. While reading it, all that comes into my mind is the blood, blood and more blood. I would the story to be a bit longer because I want to know more about the world in here. I actually thought it was about zombies in the beginning but I was surprised to realize that it was actually about supernaturals.

I was confused with the pacing and what was the main idea here. I want to find out more about how the world turned out to be something like that. But overall the idea was really great and I really love it when I find strong heroines in dystopian stories. This is another of my favorite among the stories here. Aside from the story being set in the Across the Universe, I love how there isn't a cliche love story here. It was lacking something for me. But I love how it ended even though it isn't a happy one. Overall, I love the new ideas about the dystopian world that were included in this book!

Dec 12, Lelita P. Jadi ramuannya mesti benar-benar tepat agar ceritanya enak dibaca, terasa porsinya pas, bukannya nanggung atau menggantung karena premisnya mengambang. Di buku kumpulan cerita distopia ini, ada cerita-cerita yang bagus, seru, tapi banyak juga yang meh karena idenya terlalu luas dan eksekusi sebagai cerpen tidak tepat sehingga hanya menghasilkan kening berkerut, "Apaan sih i Namanya cerita distopia Di buku kumpulan cerita distopia ini, ada cerita-cerita yang bagus, seru, tapi banyak juga yang meh karena idenya terlalu luas dan eksekusi sebagai cerpen tidak tepat sehingga hanya menghasilkan kening berkerut, "Apaan sih ini?

Atau mungkin sayanya aja yang udah terlalu lelah dengan cerita distopia. Jul 03, Tina added it. Which songs will Darya choose to hear, and how will that impact her life? When he's thirteen, he along with the other residents of Level K are allowed to board a train to the Cup Game hosted by Corporate. What happens afterward, and how Zay rises in the ranks fuel this plot.

This one was really hard for me to summarize. Magic and familial secrets abound. Harmony and Chris fight, along with others, to prevent the god's advancement by hunting Nidos and freeing cisterns of the corpses. In a life so filled with death, where do you find meaning? Phoenix and Sky are sisters who have only each other, so when Sky goes missing, Phoenix searches for her throughout this destroyed world. If you've read it, you might have wondered what Orion did all those years.

This story answers it for you. Frankie is trying to take care of her older sister Cathy, who's infected, without anyone finding out. Most are because of the character relationships. Because of all the stories, I think this one had the most character development and meaning. Its world--the post-apocalyptic part of it, at least--was less developed than those in the others, but the character relationships are excellent. It feels very much like a story Veronica Roth would tell--something that delves deeper into what music and family can mean to us. The things we may not understand about people if we view the world in shades of black and white.

The life lessons we can learn if we're willing to open ourselves. There's clear back story for the characters and their motivations , and there is more focus on them than on rebellion against this harsh world.

I liked that, and the character development, and the little plot twist Marr threw in that I didn't see coming. Plus a god that eats human corpses? Of the protagonists in this anthology, Frankie was definitely either my favorite or second favorite. Even if I didn't learn much about her sister, I could empathize with Frankie and her struggles to save what she had left in the world, and to savor what little she could gain.

Plus, I love how scents were so integral to the world.

Beautiful writing for a destroyed world. Would love to read more of this! The plot twists were fantastic, and I loved that bit of tension of well, what exactly did Rayne plan? Though the romance was central to the story, it wasn't there to clog down the plot; rather, the romance enhanced it. Not continuations of authors' series - You don't need to have read any of the authors' previous work to understand what's going on. Even Beth Revis' story, which is set in the world of Across the Universe, is made understandable for those who haven't read her books. Diversity - Not just in the stories and their worlds, but also in the characters.

Several authors drew on class tension as well. The brokenness of the worlds - There are some very unexpected elements to these stories. Definitely wasn't expecting cannibalism, haha, but yes, that's there along with the more usual questions of meaning, familial relationships, love, etc. Variety in plots - Some of the stories focused more on the worlds themselves i. That's not to say that those, and the others that I didn't mention, didn't include elements of all three Basically, there's something for everyone here.

Challenges traditional notion of dystopic worlds - For me, at least, whenever I think of dystopian novels nowadays, they always include some society or corporation that needs to be overthrown, but it's a lot harder to explore all the nuances of the society and still rebel against it in a short story. There is a definite element of "brokenness" in each world, but it's not what I'd have expected of "dystopic worlds.

How does this compare to the last anthology Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong edited together? Good question-- here are what I perceive to be the differences. Firstly, this anthology is a lot more universal, with a lot fewer stories set in the authors' previous worlds. Secondly, I think that this anthology offers more diversity in combinations -- "dystopic worlds" can also include the paranormal, but I think that the dystopia that is included in "paranormal worlds" often gets downplayed, if that makes sense.

So you have a bit of both in this anthology. Thirdly, I think there was less humor in this anthology. The dystopic worlds here are harsh, so it's hard to find lightness. I think that just means I don't mesh with her writing style, so I wonder if the same will happen for other readers of both anthologies. Most stories also hint at romance, if not include it. And this anthology includes a variety of destroyed worlds environmental, paranormal, religious, etc.

Paranormal Diversions includes a variety of paranormal creatures. Let me know if you have any questions! Reviewing an anthology is really hard Jan 19, Shylee W. First I would like to thank Goodreads for sending me this free Uncorrected not for sale copy of the book!! I was so excited when it came in the mail and I probably wouldn't have gotten to read these stories without it.

I Also would Like to thank all the authors for coming together and putting this amazing book together!! Each is its own unique idea. So for this I will be individua First I would like to thank Goodreads for sending me this free Uncorrected not for sale copy of the book!!

So for this I will be individually rating the stories! Darya realized she had this talent as a child and is sent to the school to proceed to be a Hearken and when Daryas mother is on her death bed. Daryas sister pleeds her to choose to hear the Death song over the life song so she can play it for them before their mother dies but Darya doesnt know if she wants to hear people dying. Its a very captivating story but it honestly isn't Veronicas best work. Most of the other stories were better then this one.

I would not buy this if it was a full book. It is however very beautiful because of the music and instruments you are presented to and its a very cute short story. The second story is called Branded by Kelley Armstrong This story is about how people have found out that Were-wolfs, Vampires, witches, and other supernatural creatures exist and the humans have built this sanctuary to keep them out. All of the half breed are cast out and branded with a nasty mark and when the humans find out that Braeden is half were-wolf he is branded and sent out but not before him and Rayne make a pact for her to escape and be with him but on her way to meet Braeden things dont go as planned.

This short story however I would buy if it was full book. It was very well written and I was sad when it ended as it did because I wanted to keep reading but I couldn't. It was kind of written backwards if you know what I mean and it was a good thing it made the story so much better. This story was by far my favorite!! The third story is called Necklace of Raindrops by Margaret Stohl Its about how everyone receives a necklace of beads resembling raindrops and when they run out you die but you can always jump and see were it takes you.

When Ramma Jais sister jumps she is thrust into having no family left and being utterly alone but shes wrong Ramma made sure his friend Z watched over her but when they fall in love Ramma does the unthinkable. This was a perfect short story, everything about it was perfect.

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It was a great idea and a great story line and especially when you make the jump its unknown what happens you dont know if they die or not they could be in love on a beautiful island and its very reassureing to think of it this way. I loved Z and Jais relationship. The fourth story is called Dogsbody by Rachel Caine They load a bunch of kids from K onto a train promising great things to see but then things go wrong and Zay ends up being a dogsbody the lowest of the low at coperate but when an old friends employees Zay to a higher standard hes thrust into trusting is one enemy things can go very wrong.

This is also another short story I would buy if it were a full book. It was amazingly written and Pria is my all time favoritest character out of all characters in this book! I wish it was a full book but the ending was fabulous! I was laughing at that fucker while i was crying! The fifth story is called Pale Rider by Nancy Holder This story is after a apocalypse and resources are basically gone and when Dana goes on a hunt for things on here own she is greeted by Alex and he shows her a world unimaginable and strange things can happen when your with a strange guy.

The story very confusing also kinda scary there is this ghost part and oh my god it was scary especially since it was 3 in the morning and I was reading it. I almost shit my pants. Other than that the story wasnt really anything special. The sixth story is called Corpse Eaters by Melissa Marr Its about basically zombies and when Harmonys sister dies and Chris is partner less for fighting them Harmony jumps at the opportunity to do something to help. Things can be very awkward when you hang around youre dead sisters boyfriend though. Honestly this story bored me so much. I stopped in the middle and just skipped to the next one.

The seventh story is called Burn 3 by Kami Garcia This little story begins with children becoming missing everyday and when Phoenixes little sister becomes one of those children Phoenix will do everything she can to get her back. I would also buy this short story if it were a book. It was very moving and very adventurous and addicting. It was very overwhelming to read all the stories in one sitting and not get confused. I was just so overtaken with all the differences and wanting some to be longer and some to not be in the book at all!

Some stories were really great and makes me want to check out the authors to see they're other work but it was all just to overwhelming if you plan on reading this book I suggest you read each story in different sessions. I did like the short stories but Im not a short story gal I guess because I became irritated and just gave up.

Thats why I rated it so low. I bet I would have enjoyed it more if I didnt read it the way I did. I dunno its just my opinion. Mar 19, Sharon Mariampillai rated it really liked it Shelves: I thought it was a beautiful story set in a world where bio-bombs have become a part of every day life. Veronica Roth gives us great character development and a wonderful message.

The story was beautifully written and the world building was great. It was hard to connect to the main character. I like the world Kelley Armstrong but the story is lacking if the main character is not interesting or relatable. I enjoyed this one. The concept and the world was really interesting. I like the alternating POVs and the ending made me wanting more. This was mostly revenge than a dystopian and I didn't form a connection to Xavier.

Then again, I never wanted revenge on everyone. The ending made this story. It was a kick ass, action packed. It was the least favourite story. I liked the pair and I ship them. The ending was unexpected and I would have liked more information about the story to make it connect with me more. The story takes place under a constructed biodome made to protect against the deadly atmosphere caused by the depletion of the ozone.

It was a very touching story. It takes places during her Across the Universe trilogy. I recommend this story for fans of Across the Universe. It will provide insight of younger Orion and his one love Mag. This was my other favourite story besides Veronica Roth's story.

It was about love and sacrifices made for love. It ends the anthology with a beautiful and hopeful ending. Feb 14, William rated it really liked it. I mainly read this because of Veronica Roth and because I'm a dystopian junkie. I'm going to rate each story individually.

Hearken by Veronica Roth Rating: I loved the writing and the whole concept was interesting. Branded by Kelley Armstrong Rating: I did like how it ended. Necklace of Raindrops by Margaret Stohl Rating: I just th I mainly read this because of Veronica Roth and because I'm a dystopian junkie.

I just think that the instalove was unnecessary. Dogsbody by Rachel Caine Rating: Pale Rider by Nancy Holder Rating: It didnt make sense, had a boring plot, annoying characters, and unnecessary instalove. Plus I thought it was cheesy. Corpse Eaters by Melissa Marr Rating: I didn't really get it. Burn 3 by Kami Garcia Rating: It kept me intrigued and ended wonderfully. Love is a Choice by Beth Revis Rating: I felt that if I read this after reading the series, I would've appreciated it more. Miasma by Carrie Ryan Rating: I also couldn't connect with the main character.

However it ended good enough. Overall, I'm rating this 4 stars because there was only 2 stories I didn't really like among the better ones. Namun butuh proses yang agak panjang eh maksudnya pertimbangan agak lama sebelum memutuskan untuk akhirnya membeli buku ini. Pertama, buku ini merupakan kumpulan hasil karya penulis destopia yang terbilang sukses.

Membaca sebuah karya saja sudah menjanjikan keseruan tersendiri, apa lagi membaca karya banyak penulis. Kedua harga buku ini teramat sangat terjangkau, Rp Bagi saya nama seorang Esti Budihapsari merupakan garansi mutu sebuah kisah. Pertimbangan lainnya, buku ini merupakan kumpulan cerita pendek. Dengan demikian maka bukan tidak mungkin ada kisah yang berkesan tidak tuntas atau nanggung kata ABG sekarang. Dan saya merupakan orang yang paling 'resek' kalau membaca kisah seperti itu.

Kejenuhan mungkin saja terjadi, namanya juga manusia. Mungkin saja seorang pembaca genre destopia mendadak menjadi bosen membaca kisah yang sejenis, jika satu kisah saja membosankan bayangkan jika kumpulan kisah. Dan belakangan saya agak jenuh membaca kisah versi ini. I love her so much and she wrote a short story for this!!! The anthology comes out February 19th, Dec 07, Kierra rated it liked it Shelves: Sometimes it's good to read them, so you don't get lost in pages of feelings and soap operas.

But sometimes 20 pages is not enough to fully understand the dystopian world. In the case of these stories, few times I wanted to know more about what the hell is going on. It seems like they all were written just because dystopia is in trend now. Apr 20, Rosa added it Shelves: In this review I will talk about why I read this book and the category this book fits into collectively, but for each story will give my opinion on quotes, characters, things I have learned and general opinions on the story.

Keep in mind each review may be a little smaller than my normal review size- these are short stories after all! I had never dreamed of being able to combine a category that is often the victim of my hatred short stories with one of my favourite genres dystopian. The fact that one of the stories was called Corpse Eaters also drew me in, not to mention that the first story was written by Veronica Roth, author of Divergent. This book fits into the category of Short Stories. For once, I actually found this category interesting. This book, however, made me want to take on this category because it was in one of my favourite genres.

Now for the stories! However, I did really enjoy this story and I got a good impression of an interesting world. The beginning sucked me in with a great opening. At first I thought the main character was going to have to take some sort of test to see if she would live or die, or perhaps it would be a little like Divergent, and she would be sorted into a group similar to a faction depending on her answer. However, this was not the case.

The question was literal - would she like to be able to hear the songs of the living, or the dying? Choose life or death? There really was only one character to like in this story, and that is the main character Darya. The other characters were not really developed because it was a short story. Darya is a girl who has a talent for music, and so is enlisted in a school for Hearkeners, people who can hear life or death songs. I like the way she makes a very brave decision to choose something as mysterious and unknown as death.

It also sums up the essence of this story. Something I learned from this story is to never judge people without fully understanding them. I liked how this one really was an adventure, a daring escape from a walled society that was crumbling from the inside. I also enjoyed the concept that the Branded who were meant to be the greatest danger were actually just a community of people - not completely violent savages as implied by the people inside the fortress. My favourite character was Priscilla. It is hopeful, shows that the people in the fortress are not the only forms of humanity left, but also it is threatening as if the branded are soon to take revenge.

I like this quote because it is all these things rolled into one. Something I learned from this story was that people will come together and find each other like the Branded have done, no matter what. I also learned that nothing can sever the bond between two people who want to be together, no matter what the society tries to do. And after all your beads are gone, you are asked to drop. Drop meaning leap out of a helicopter over a sea of blackness, no parachute, and fall to your death.

The ending was unexpected and a relief to me, because that drop idea was too darn creepy to leave unexplained and the story seemed to end depressingly until I read it. This story rushed by me in a kind of mist of not understanding, but if I had to pick, my favourite character is Jai because she seems to be a very clever person. The way she hoards her drops and makes sure to not spend them makes her seem like an intelligent person, rather than one who wastes them and ends up having to drop. I suck in my breath for no reason, gasping at the wonder that is life.

It proves how she is changing into a free person; ready to make her escape from the damaged society she lives in, ready to view spoiler [join the rebels at the bottom of the drop. Jai never thought she would stop carefully preserving her life, and never thought she would make the drop, and certainly never thought about what would await her below the darkness she was dropping into.

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Overall, I loved the story, but not how it was written. It seemed a bit too confusing and blurry. The action in this story made it a standout for me, and the whole reminded me of the books about secret agents I like to read. I also think it had a clever plot and storyline. Overall I really liked this short story. My favourite character was Virtue. I always favour intelligent characters, and she was a very clever woman who had an underlying plan.

This is also what I learned from the story. Overall this was a fascinating world that I would have loved to read more about, even if the middle was a little bit boring. Pretty much a story about a German fairy and a girl who finds lost things. Even though this is probably incorrect because apparently they are reptilian creatures, it seemed believable for me because they are servants of a god who feeds on the dead. Thinking about them this way made the story for me.

The writing was good, gripping. My brain just wanted to digest more about what had happened to the earth, more details of how the world had come about. I think a little bit more development in this area would have been good. She seemed like a brave and gutsy heroine. The idea that she had painted over her mirror, and shaved her head seemed to capture this fearlessness in the picture I built of her in my mind. Something new I learned from this story was that no matter how much you try to hide it, not believe in it, love always exists.

This is experienced by Harmony, who for the whole story tries not to believe in love because everyone she loved was killed, but eventually she has feelings for Chris even though she has denied them for so long. I really enjoyed this story, probably mainly because of the title: It just sounds awesome, right? I did however like the creepiness of the underground scenes. My favourite character was Phoenix, because she was so brave and determined to get her sister back after she was taken by the skinners.

Phoenix remains unremarkable in her world, unlike her sister Sky with her blue eyes that are so unusual - and make her a target for the Skinners. Nevertheless, Phoenix takes it upon herself to rescue the sister she loves very much, and a group of other kids at the very end. She is a very responsible and loving sister and a brave character. Today I changed things. This story did emphasise the importance of bravery and valuing our loved ones. The importance of loyalty like Phoenix has for her sister is shown in this story also.

Due to this, I skimmed over this story without really reading it. Probably would have been quite good if I had. It was gripping, chilling and interesting. The idea of the beaked doctors and plague eaters creeped me out in a great way, and the love story was one of those typically adorable tales of forbidden love — a servant and the son of the house in which she works. I also loved the ending. Yay, happiness at the end in a book of heavy dystopian tales!

My favourite character in this story was Frankie. Often in short stories you only really have the main character to like, and this was the case in Miasma. She was loyal to her sister, much like the main character of Burn 3, and managed to find beauty and love in a hopeless, ruined world. This also links quite nicely to what I learned from this book: Most of the stories were really good — mysterious and gripping, but a few were confusing.

Thanks for suffering through my insanely long review and all those spoilers! Full of generally ok stories. Hearken by Veronica Roth - 2. This is about Darya growing up to be a Hearkener and dealing with her past. Branded by Kelly Armstrong - 2. Her boyfriend, Braeden, is discovered to be a werewolf. This is about her leaving the fortress view spoiler [to join a resistance hide spoiler ]. Honestly, I wasn't too keen on the ending - it feels Full of generally ok stories.

Honestly, I wasn't too keen on the ending - it feels too idealistic. The idea could have been interesting but the execution was meh. I thought this was set up to be a story of living instead of surviving, and but it wasn't pulled off well. Hostile takeover involves guns. I loved this read - at its heart, it's individuals against the corporation.

Basically, the children on Z's floor are taken away. The majority are killed. Z works his way up the corporate ladder as a dogsbody, determined to kill the boardroom members responsible for the deed. I really liked the ending. I don't understand the "magic" they used, I'm not too keen on Dana following Alex, and the whole story just feels confusing. The "gods" are here and they demand sacrifices of corpses.

Only, there aren't enough corpses, and they've resorted to making their own. Features Harmony and Chris - Chris wants to leave town, but Harmony wants to stay with her father. Also contains parental abuse. Phoenix's sister, Sky, goes missing. Phoenix goes to find her. The world was semi-interesting: We follow children who are dirt-poor and struggling to live from day to day.

I loved this, and the cool calculation in it.

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Our narrator was the heir to the spaceship. He was "killed" for opposing the Elder the leader. The Leader drugs everyone with mind-altering drugs to keep them under his control. Then the narrator meets a girl, view spoiler [who has also been released from the drugs. She's vibrant and full of plans for revolution - which he disagrees with because her plans have too much bloodshed and are generally too impulsive.

So he lets her be drugged again hide spoiler ]. There's a poisonous miasma rising from the water. People who breathe it are contaminated and get the plague. Classic poor girl meets rich boy story ending with view spoiler [boy sacrificing himself to save the girl and her sister. The most interesting part, to me, was the idea of the boy going undercover in the organisation hide spoiler ]. I was not too keen on this ending - it'll probably only be worth it as a sidestory to a main story where the view spoiler [boy's undercover works join with result in some sort of resistance to the plague doctors hide spoiler ].

Jan 07, Alexis rated it really liked it. Starting out the book, we have Veronica Roth of Divergent fame , with Hearken, the tale of 8 year old Darya, whose new-found musical aptitude has afforded her the opportunity to bring beauty to a world ravaged by doomsdayists hastening the apocalypse with biological warfare. Darya's kind are known as Hearkeners, musical prodigies trained in various instruments and at 16, outfitted with a brain implant that allows them to hear either "life songs" or "death songs" depending on their preference.

While each person has both, the life song plays strongest in the healthy, and in people who are dying, the death song prevails. With light cameos from neuroscience and string theory, her stories sound smarter and have an air of credibility, albeit still undeniably science fiction [think Fringe].

I'd say that Hearken is one of my top choices of the collection. Next is Branded, by Kelley Armstrong. In a story with a more supernatural flavor, Rayne and her fellow humans live in a fortress protected from all varieties of hybrid monsters, magic users, vampires, etc. Her love interest, Braeden, has been identified as a werewolf and is banished to the outside, but Rayne, believing she cannot live without him, enacts a plan to sneak out of the fortress and find him, no matter the cost.

Occasionally stilted dialogue and unlikeable characters somewhat hampers the execution of this story, but an interesting story all the same. Necklace of Raindrops, by Margaret Stohl, is told alternatingly through the perspectives of Jai and Z, citizens of a [Chinese? At birth, each person is given a "necklace of raindrops," as described by Jai, with a predetermined number of beads that are cashed in for things to experience and enjoy.

When the beads run out, members of this society are forced to make "the drop," jumping from a plane, with or without a parachute. Z, a reckless spender, and Jai, a conscientious saver, are polar opposites that come together through the course of the story. Rachel Caine's Dogsbody is set in a corporation-dominated dystopia where lower-class citizens are treated as expendable labor, snuffed out at a moment's notice to pad the bank accounts of company executives.

Xavier Grey fortuitously survives a mass extermination of his peers and makes it his life's mission to work his way up the ranks to seek revenge on the parties responsible. Caine does a fantastic job of setting the scene, with a few memorable metaphors that make for vivid imagery. In Pale Rider, by Nancy Holder, Delaney and a few other teenagers have managed to survive some sort of apocalyptic scenario and are holed up in a house, using every day to scrounge for supplies.

On one such supply run, Delaney meets Alex, a mysterious German man, who tells her that she is somehow involved in this apocalypse by blood and is a missing link to reversing the damage. Now, while I have liked the other novels I have read by Holder, you can probably tell by the vagueness of this description that I found the plot to be rather confusing. It's one of those "struggle through the mystery with the protagonist until the last possible moment" stories, but I found the explanation at the end too out there to accommodate this format. Perhaps this would have been better suited to being a longer novel.

A god has come to earth in Melissa Marr's Corpse Eaters, but unfortunately, he's not human. Nidhogg and his followers [Nidos] eat people, and lately, the natural death rate has not been enough to satisfy their appetites. Harmony and her partner, Chris, have been dedicated to the dangerous mission of taking out as many Nidos as possible, knowing that humans can no longer thrive on earth as long as this god and his people still live. I found this story to be a bit confusing as well, but primarily due to a twist at the end that probably would have been a bit better explained in a longer format.

Kami Garcia is one of the few authors I didn't recognize on the bill for this book, but I found Burn 3 to be the most fleshed out and engaging of the stories. Phoenix lives in a world where the sun's intensity has magnified, leaving the outside almost unlivable. Her parents killed off in the early days, she is responsible for looking after her little sister Sky, the rare blonde-haired, blue-eyed child not fatally burned by the sun.

But when Phoenix comes home to find Sky has been drugged and taken from their home, she must take up with some undesirable people to find out what happened and try to bring her sister home. Love is a Choice, by Beth Revis, is set on the Godspeed, a ship in outer space and details the progression of 19 year old Orion's plot to overthrow the Elder.

The Elder, fearing mutiny from his ship's passengers, has been drugging their water supply, with only higher ranking ship workers provided a pill to inhibit the drug's effects. While inhabiting the ship in secret, Orion meets Meg, an employee that shares his vision of revolt aboard the Godspeed. Initially appearing to be a love story, a twist at the end leaves both the integrity of our narrator and the status of the revolution up in the air.

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In the final story, Miasma, by Carrie Ryan, Frankie, her mother, and sister are a poor family in a world slowly being consumed by "miasma," a substance that encompasses the earth, the smell of which infects its inhabitants and eventually kills them. Before that happens, however, the infected are much more likely to be rooted out by "the doctors," masked men that arrest the sick and feed them to mutants called "plague eaters.

In an effort to keep the household together, Frankie dons her mother's uniform and goes to work in her place as a maid for the wealthy Oglethorpes, where she soon becomes entranced by her employer's son, Charles. While Charles may have taken notice of Frankie as well, she has bigger concerns; she can only keep the doctors away from Cathy for so long. Miasma was a nice choice to end the book with because it's the big romantic of the bunch, and ends on an uncharacteristically optimistic note for a dystopian work. Or, of course, stories about orphans: I was really excited to read it.

And though it left me feeling meh a few times, there are wonderful stories to be found between those pages as well. I've learned two things reading this. One, I really hate short stories. It always, always make me either want more or nauseous for being too fast-paced and leaving you so confused and sometimes they don't.

Second, I suck at reviewing them. Not saying I'm a good book reviewer though I'd like to think I don't suck at it so maybe the right thing to say is I suck more than usual. In my defense, you actually have little to work with. So let's just go ahead with the reviews, shall we? Hearken by Veronica Roth 2. It follows the story of a girl training to be a Hearkener, who can hear either the songs of the living or the dying.

The world is on the verge of being destroyed by crazies activating bio-bombs to end the world. That alone is enough to perk my interest. But because it's only meant as a short story, it ended up feeling really rushed and leaving you with a "blah" feeling. Branded by Kelley Armstrong 3. In Branded, the world is destroyed by wars. To make matters worse, hybrids and enhanced supernaturals experimented by the government got out after said wars and are wreaking havoc.

The survivors are then forced to build fortresses to protect themselves against these creatures. In this story, we follow the adventure of Rayne, a girl who fell in love with a werewolf who was cast out. I can't say more without giving too much away but this one's definitely full of action. In this world, everyone has a necklace of raindrops. Each drop controls an encapsulated biotoxin injected in their bodies when they got the necklace.

Each drop spent releases a small amount of biotoxin in your body. When you've spent that last drop, the last capsule is released, which will get you killed. It had a really nice storyline but the way it was written was annoying. Still, this world and its concept could make for a pretty good book. Dogsbody by Rachel Caine 4. He was a kid living in one of the poorest levels of society.

One day, Corporate gave all the kids in Level K a trip to a Cup game which turned out to be the last day of them all. Except Zay and a handful of other kids who survived. Zay worked his way up the Corporate ladder with the intent of taking revenge on the people who authorized what is now called the Cup Train. But what he found up top is way more complicated than he imagined. Short but full of action, this story put me and nailed me at the edge of my seat. Interesting concept but not fully explored. Especially when it involve badass female protagonists.

This one is a little on the creepy side. With tons of action. America has been barred off from the rest of the world after a god, Nidhogg, showed up with its followers, repitilian-like creatures called Nidos. When other humans followed this god, a god who eats corpses by the way, chaos ensued. Harm and Chris are hunters. They both suffered losses because of Nidhogg and its followers and would love nothing more than to see them destroyed.

This is gripping enough that I finished it in 10 minutes! Burn 3 by Kami Garcia 4. It's scary because the state of the world is something that may actually happen any time. And it's creepy, too! Creepy and scary, my favorite combination. I just wish the action part of the story was longer. Love is a Choice by Beth Revis 3. Supposedly the successor of the Eldest, he was ordered to be killed after asking too many questions; but he was saved by a doctor who then helped him hide in the forgotten parts of the ship.

But when he met Mag, everything changes. I know this is in the same setting as one of the book series by Revis. I won't review this anymore. Suffice it to say this is interesting enough to have caught my attention so I'm pushing the series to the top of my tbr-list.

Simple, tragic, and sweet, it will leave you with a bittersweet feeling. This review also appeared on Amazon. Apr 24, Brooke rated it liked it. I like the main character a lot, I felt her feelings and reactions were realistic. The first half of the plot bored me but the way it ended and everything was tied up was very good. The main character was incredibly smart and the whole plan she had was brilliant! Again I would read thisif it actually was a whole novel!

So the ending was just fantastic! The world the author created could have been very unique and interesting if only she used a better main character, Jai was just too dull to use in a new, refreshing, dystopian world!