Bianca’s parents have taken jobs teaching at Evernight Academy, a very rich and very exclusive boarding school that most teenagers couldn’t even hope to attend. They think it’s a great opportunity for her to come along with them. But she hates it—the campus is miles away from civilzation, the buildings are old and creepy, and [...]
Micah has been a compulsive liar all her life. Convincing her classmates that her father is a drug-dealer or her principal that she is a hermaphrodite is nothing to her. But when her secret boyfriend Zach is brutally murdered and all the school suspects her, Micah finally wants to stop lying. “I will tell you [...]
Once again, Refracted Light has experienced an upgrade! Check out the sidebar for our new and expanded indexes of reviews, as well as our tagging system. Most importantly, it is now no longer necessary to register with the website to post comments, as we have new and hopefully superior spam-guarding software. (We would like to say a big “Do svidaniya, tovarisch!” to our charming Russian spammer, and a thankful “Ciao, bella!” to our Italian one. It’s been great, you’ve been great, we’ll always have Paris, but it’s time to move on. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.)
Astrid’s a normal American teenager who has two problems: one, her crazy mother is always talking about how unicorns were not only real, but evil, venomous monsters that killed multitudes until Astrid’s ancestors hunted them to extinction. And two, she’s been peer-pressured into dating a sleazy boy she doesn’t like. Then one night when Astrid’s [...]
The Hunger Games turns on a concept that’s so intriguing, it’s easy to forget how disturbing it is — which is quite an accomplishment, all things considered. In a futuristic dystopia, the government has created a means of suppression that’s half “Survivor”, half gladiator games, in which 24 contestants, chosen by lottery from the society’s [...]
A fun idea gets a mediocre treatment in this fantasy-adventure-meets-19th-century-manners novel. The author sets his story — involving several central characters trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys so that the bad guys can’t destroy the world — in a milieu which, he hopes, invokes the England of Austen and Bronte. Ivy, [...]
This is definitely one of those “in a world where” books, and I liked the initial concept. Katsa lives in a world where a few people, known as Gracelings, are born with varied special powers or abilities. These Gracelings are recognized by their specially-colored eyes, and in most countries become the personal property of the [...]
Being a vampire isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just ask Nina, who’s been a vampire (and therefore a teenager) for thirty-plus years. Vampires don’t really have superhuman strength; they can’t shape-shift; and they most certainly are not sexy. What with the inability to function during daylight hours, the constant health problems, and the [...]
I have to say that I’m appalled that some editor out there read this book and decided that it would be a good addition to the Young Adult shelves. You’d think that a book which contains incest, forced abortions, rape (including incestuous and homosexual), and borderline bestiality would not be an obvious candidate for teen [...]
This book makes me like the term “speculative fiction” even more than I did before. How does one classify as either science fiction or fantasy a novel which involves robots, zombies, airships, and clairvoyance? Investigator Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Veronica Hobbes find themselves attempting to sort out three apparently unrelated mysteries: a horrifyingly [...]