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Teagan Wylltson lives an ordinary life.  She's just a 16-year-old girl from Chicago who spends her days studying, hanging out with her BFF and working with primates at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  She's no one special.  And she's certainly not crazy.  Except that she's been seeing things.  Strange things.  Things that cannot possibly be real.  

When gorgeous Finn McCumhail shows up out of nowhere raving about goblins, Teagan knows he's telling the truth.  There's no other way to explain what she's been seeing.  But, if Finn's stories about the ancient creatures from Irish folklore are real, that means Teagan and her family are in grave danger.  Finn claims they were born to fight all goblin-kind, but just the sight of the horrible monsters makes Teagan want to run away screaming.  Can Finn teach her how to resist their strange magic?  Can Teagan trust the beautiful boy who is, after all, a stranger?  What will happen to those she loves if she puts her faith in the wrong person?  What evil will she bring down on them all if she chooses the wrong side in the goblin wars?  With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Teagan must decide where her loyalties lie.  

Because I've read so many YA urban fantasies like this one, I put off reading Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton.  And really, the only reason I finally picked it up (so to speak) is that it caught my attention when I was browsing through books on my phone's Kindle app looking for something to keep me awake during a snooze-worthy Diamondbacks baseball game.  Tyger Tyger did the trick.  At least for the duration of the game.  The story drew me in enough that I kept reading, but in the end, I found the novel disappointing.  Why?  Generic plot, annoying insta-love, abrupt transitions between scenes, underdeveloped characters, and just general over-writing.  To me, the novel felt over-long and underwhelming.  I finished it, but I didn't care enough about the characters to bother picking up the sequel.  

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa)

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If this were a movie, it would be rated:

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Although no one is allowed to own Sugar anymore, she still feels like a slave.  Spending long, grueling days cutting sugarcane under the sweltering sun doesn't seem very free to her.  She longs for a life beyond River Road Plantation, where she can do as she pleases without the master or the overseer or even her adoptive mama, Missus Beale, looking over her shoulder.  It's only when Sugar's traipsing along the banks of the Mississippi River, exploring and make-believing with the master's son, that she really feels free.  Even then, she can't let her guard down—if anyone catches her and Billy together, they'll both be beaten.  

When Billy tells Sugar a secret—his father is hiring Chinese workers to labor alongside the former slaves in the cane field—she feels a tingle of excitement.  She's the only one, though.  The rest of the plantation workers fear for their meager wages.  They look at their new co-workers with suspicion and doubt.  Sugar can't understand the tension as she finds the Chinese men fascinating.  There's one thing she does understand—she's the only one who can bring all the workers together.  But how?  And what will it cost her to take such a risk?  Her reckless bravery always leads to trouble—will this time be any different?

Sugar, like Jewell Parker Rhodes' first middle grade book, Ninth Ward, offers readers a strong, capable heroine who uses her wits to rise above a difficult situation.  Although she possesses courage and wisdom beyond her years, Sugar's childlike enthusiasm and imagination guarantee she remains both believable and relatable.  Young readers will relish her mischievous streak, while applauding her efforts to promote understanding and peace among two very different groups of people.  Hers is a quiet, enjoyable story that reminds us of the humanity we all share, regardless of our race or culture.   

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly [Dear America: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl] by Joyce Hansen)

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If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence and scary situations

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(Note:  Although this review will not contain spoilers for Bones Never Lie, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from earlier Tempe Brennan adventures.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)    

With a vicious cold wreaking havoc on her nose and throat, the last thing Tempe Brennan wants to do is head to work.  But, unidentified corpses in need of her particular skill set to wrangle out their mysteries wait for no man—or woman.  Souped up on Sudafed, the forensic anthropologist reports to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, perplexed by the summons to powwow over a case long grown cold.  What she discovers chills her blood.  A sadistic female serial killer, whom Tempe has helped investigate in the past (Monday Mourning, 2003) is at it again.  Anique Pomerleau is Tempe's one-that-got-away.  This time, Tempe's not about to let her go.  She'll do anything she can to find the sick woman and see that she pays—once and for all—for her crimes.

Unfortunately, "anything" involves not just finding her longtime colleague (and on again/off again boyfriend), who flew off the grid after his daughter's death two months ago, but also convincing him to help her track down Pomerleau.  Tempe has personal reasons for wanting to see Andrew Ryan, the man who still makes her girl parts sing, but they're trumped by her professional need to catch the killer.  She knows the Brennan/Ryan team can nail this one.  But bringing a changed Ryan on the case leads to its own complications.

As Tempe and Ryan chase dead end after dead end, Pomerleau's victim count increases.  More young girls will die if they don't stop her soon.  Can they nab Anique before it's too late?  Or will she remain the one who got away—again?

Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm a huge Kathy Reichs fan.  More specifically, a huge Tempe Brennan fan.  I love the sassy, indefatigable scientist—her down-to-earth personality, her sense of humor, her passion for her work, everything.  She's the kind of vivid, complex character that I would follow anywhere.  Although Bones Never Lie (available September 23, 2014) disturbed me more than other of her adventures (something about a woman preying on young girls ... just ick), I still devoured the novel.  As with other Tempe books, this one offers a compelling mystery peppered with fascinating forensic detail explained in terms the average person can (pretty much) understand; exciting, didn't-see-that-one-coming plot twists; and, of course, the friction and sizzle that always accompanies Tempe's interactions with people like "Skinny" Slidell and Andrew Ryan.  Oh, and let's talk about the ending of Bones Never Lie for a minute—gave me all the feels, people, all the feels!  Love, love, love.  So, yeah, enjoyed the book, still adore the series.  Amen.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other books in the Tempe Brennan series by Kathy Reichs [Deja Dead; Death Du Jour; Deadly Decisions; Fatal Voyage; Grave Secrets; Bare Bones; Monday Mourning; Cross Bones; Break No Bones; Bones to Ashes; Devil Bones; 206 Bones; Spider Bones; Flash and Bones; Bones Are Forever; Bones in Her Pocket; Bones of the Lost; Swamp Bones])

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To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Bones Never Lie from the generous folks at Random House via those at NetGalley.