Black Out, by Robison Wells

In Black Out, the United States (and the world) are under attack by a mastermind group of terrorists. However, these aren't your ordinary terrorists - they're teenagers, and they're citizens of the U.S. They've become infected with a virus called Erebus, which gives them superhuman strength and ability in a limited area. Band them together, and the things they can accomplish are overwhelming. Unfortunately, some innocent teens are infected with Erebus as well, and the U.S. military begins a mass inspection and quarantine of teens nationwide in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

Aubrey Parsons is one of the innocent infected - her ability is that she can disappear. Up until now, it's seemed cool because she can steal anything she wants from local stores, but when it lands her a military captive, being trained for active duty, its repercussions become daunting.

Aubrey and her childhood friend soon find themselves caught up with a group of "Lambdas" - that's what they call those infected - who may or may not have the nation's best interests at heart. Will they be able to stop them?

I really liked how the two different facets of the plot were so woven together. There were the "good" Lambdas (Aubrey, Jack) and then the "bad" Lambdas (Laura, Alec, Dan). Their stories intersected in a really interesting way. There was one aspect of the novel that frustrated me, though. There were random posts, they looked like something from a blog or wiki, throughout the novel. They were (seemingly) totally disconnected to the plot and didn't make any sense to me - it really bothered me. But, when I finally figured out what they actually were it made perfect sense and was an awesome idea!! I do feel kind of dumb that I didn't figure it out sooner...maybe I wasn't paying enough attention.


Also Try: Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi; Witch and Wizard, by James Patterson; Inhuman, by Kat Falls

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, by Annabel Pitcher

I absolutely loved Annabel Pitcher's debut novel, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece! I can't wait to see what's next from this author!

I found the premise of the novel so uniquely interesting and morbid that I was pulled in from the opening line: 

"My sister lives on the mantelpiece. Well, some of her does. Three of her fingers, her right elbow and her kneecap are buried in a graveyard in London," (1).

The novel's narrator is a 10-year old boy named Jaime, and his older sister Rose was tragically killed in a terrorist attack in London. Rose's twin, Jasmine (Jas), and Jaime, are all but forgotten as their parents mourn the loss of their beloved daughter. Ultimately, the parents, unable to deal with the death, split up and the mom moves in with a new boyfriend. 

This is where the novel picks up - Jaime, Jas, and their dad move away from London and into the country to get away from it all. A huge part of what the father wants to get away from are the Muslims that live in London - he can't get over the fact that his daughter was killed my Muslim terrorists, and now finds himself prejudiced against all foreigners. They hope that this move will help them get over Rose's death and move on, but their alcoholic father seems totally stuck in the past.

However, the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and there is a little girl named Sunya - who happens to be Muslim - in Jaime's class. She's the only person that is nice to Jaime in his new school, and he struggles with their friendship, feeling like he is dishonoring his father by engaging with her. He's able to hide the friendship for a while, but ultimately things come to a head. 

I loved watching the characters evolve, and found myself hating the mother whole-heartedly as she all but abandoned her two surviving children. I also found the dynamic of the dead twin and the way the survivors each dealt with it intriguing. I loved this novel and felt that it really made me think, but I do feel like while it's a YA novel, it would resonate more with older people.

Here's a book trailer for the novel: