Son of War, Daughter of Chaos

 Janette Rallison is one of my favorite YA authors, so I was excited to dive into her latest, Son of War, Daughter of Chaos, a contemporary YA paranormal where the main character, Aislynn, is torn between the boy she's started to love and loyalty to her family. And while I enjoyed reading this book, it didn't quite live up to the high standards Rallison has set with her other books.

Aislynn has spent most of her life in hiding, moving from one location to another, with stints at the Arctic and Antarctic poles in between. All her life, Aislynn has been warned about her family's enemies, particularly those whose eyes glow green. Aislynn dismisses this as part of her father's general weird paranoias--until she meets a boy, Dane, who fits that description. Unfortunately, by the time she discovers this, she's been dating Dane for a couple of weeks and she really likes him.

As Aislynn and her family are forced into hiding one more time, Aislynn learns the real truth: that her family are Setites, named for the ancient Egyptian god Set, and the enemies are Horusians. But the more Aislynn learns about the long war-fare between the two groups and her family's role in this history, the more complicated her feelings get. Which group is right? As the book progresses, Aislynn has to battle with her mind and her heart to choose a path that's right for her.

Not that the book isn't well written or the characters engaging--it has that. Aislynn is a smart, conscientious teenage girl who's trying to figure out what the right thing is, even when her family and friends are telling her differently.

I suppose for me this just didn't quite have the spark of so many of Rallison's books. I think Rallison is at her best showing contemporary teens interact with each other (even in the CJ Hill books), so when a lot of this plot revolves around high-paced stakes, I lost some of the fun teen interaction and voice.

Rebel Belle

 Rachel Hawkins does fun and lighthearted YA with a kick so well sometimes--the first book in Hex Hall was a delight from beginning to end. And a lot of that fun and delight comes through in Rebel Belle, just not quite as much.

For starters, there's the premise, which Hawkins herself described as Terminator meets Legally Blonde. Prom-queen hopeful Harper Price has everything together: her prom-queen nomination locked in, the perfect boyfriend, perfect grades. (Just don't ask her why she's so determined to hold it all together, or anything about her dead sister). But when a quick detour to the bathroom to reapply her lip gloss leads instead to a surprise liplock with the school janitor, who then dies in her arms, Harper's perfect life crumbles into chaos.

Suddenly, she's a Paladin, a super-powerful creature charged with protecting none other than her arch-nemesis, David Stark. Of course, this isn't part of Harper's plan, and it certainly doesn't make her boyfriend happy. So now she has to not only rock Cotillion, she has to save the world while she's at it.

As I mentioned, there was a lot to like here. Hawkins never lets her books get too dark, even when dealing with serious things (like the death of Harper's sister). And sometimes, when I just want to escape, I appreciate that. Harper and David had some great banter and good chemistry, and I thought it was to Hawkins' credit that she made me like David without making me hate Harper's current boyfriend. There were some fun twists in the story--but also some moments that didn't quite make sense to me.

Ultimately, a book I enjoyed reading, but not one that stayed with me long after the reading. But there's something about a heroine who can kill a bad guy with her stiletto . . .