Michael Johnston (8) (1973–)

I would like to thank Orchard Books and NetGalley for granting me a copy of this e-book to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.

Goodreads Blurb:
"From New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston comes this remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.

Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the show more destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.

At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all."

A heady mixture of action, fantasy, and a realistic dystopian future, all combined with the sweet thrill of emotional confusion, this story seems to have something for everyone. Nat is one of those people who is far more than she appears to be on the surface; yet even she doesn't know who, or what, she truly is. In a land of martial control, freezing temperatures, and the complete loss of new technological advances, there are essentially two types of people - those that are prey and those that are predators. Yet somehow in this dystopian world lives a third type of person, known as 'the marked.' These people all have two things that make them stand out from the rest - they have a physical mark of some sort, and they don't have the traditional brown eyes.

Nat is one of the marked. After escaping a terrible childhood Nat has been listening to her inner voice, a voice that helped her make her escape relatively unscathed. But she's afraid of her inner voice, because it doesn't sound at all like her. So whose voice is she hearing?

Her desperation to find the mythical land known as 'the Blue,' a land like theirs used to be - where the yellow sun shines, and plants and animals grow everywhere, where grass grows on the ground (all things she's only ever heard of, or read about in the ancient books) - all this has Nat taking the largest risk of her life. She is going to become a jumper, a pilgrim. And for that she needs to hire a runner and pray that she gets an honest one.

This is basically where Wes, Shakes, and team enter in force. Every member of Wes' team is a unique character, and all well crafted, demonstrating their quirks, as well as their personality flaws and strengths. While Wes and Shakes are the dominant figures amongst the crew of runners, all of the other crew members are three-dimensional. As with the action, the characters show who they are, making me feel as if I was right there with them instead of sitting somewhere reading about them - a true testament to the abilities of both authors.

In the beginning the relationship between Nat and Wes is rocky at best. Yet they both feel drawn toward each other for an unknown reason. A feeling they both do their best to resist, though for different reasons. Watching their relationship unfold is like finding a flower growing in the middle of a concrete parking lot, beautiful, stubborn, and inexplicable. Pay attention to their relationship, for something happens during the climb to the story's peak that could be very important for the future development of this story overall. It certainly surprised me, and I've been wondering about it ever since.

As the characters' personalities became more familiar to me, the pacing of the action also increases. The development of the story is well tied together, with characters and arc of the story dependent upon one another. True to form for an action-packed story, the peak is reached at the end, leaving us with a cliffhanger ending. Though violent, nevertheless the ending left me primed and ready for the next book in the series! show less

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Wonderful post apocalyptic story with engaging characters, intense action, intriguing plot, and filled with an adorable romance. I enjoyed every minute of this book and would highly recommend it to YA fans.

Opening Sentence: They were coming for her.

The Review:

The world has turned to ice or at least most of the ground. The ocean is full of trash and pollution. Almost all plants, animals, and any living species have ceased to exist as it once show more was. The planet only has one temperature and that is freezing. Now humans have flocked to some of the only surviving cities and it is survival of the fittest. Everyone now has grey eyes and brown hair, if you have any other eye color you are one of the marked. The marked are born with special powers that range from telepathic to being able to fly. It is said that they are descendants from sylph, a magical people that everyone fears. Anyone that is marked is considered dangerous and needs to be contained by the government. The world is slowly dying and the only hope is the strange rumors of the Blue. Legend says that there is still a land with blue skies and the warm sun, but no one really knows where it is. Supposedly, there is a doorway in the middle of the ocean, but the journey is full of unspeakable dangers.

Natasha Kestal , more commonly known as Nat is a blackjack dealer in New Vegas. She escaped from the institution for the marked and has disguised herself to look like a normal human. She has been biding her time waiting for the right moment to leave New Vegas and try to get to the mysterious land she has heard about. She is lucky enough to stumble across a map that is suppose to lead her to “the blue” and now all she needs is someone to take her there.

Ryan Wesson is ex-army and now he is a runner. Runners are illegal crews that take people wherever they want to go for a price. It’s not the most honest work, but they have to get food somehow. Wes may do some shady things, but he is also known to be very honorable. This is what leads Nat to pick Wes as her runner to get her out of New Vegas. They have a very dangerous journey ahead of them full of deceit, betrayal, and surprisingly love.

The story alters between Nat and Wes’s POV. First you get to meet Nat and I absolutely adored her. She is a very strong character with a good voice and a spunky personality. She always has a comeback and is full of witty charm. She is brave and smart. She was orphaned at a young age and raised in the army to do unthinkable things. Then she was locked up in a prison for the marked. She was able to escape, but finding the Blue is her only chance at happiness. Captain Ryan Wesson is a pain, but Nat can’t help but be drawn to him. She knows that it will only end in heartbreak, but she can’t seem to stay away. Everything about her character was fun and easy to connect with. I can’t wait to read more of her story.

I instantly fell in love with Wes. He is gorgeous, charming, cocky, sweet, honorable, loyal, and just an amazing character. He also has a very sad past that has lead him down a road that he’s not totally proud of. He lives a rough life and has secrets that he doesn’t care to share with anyone else. Nat piques an interest in him that he hasn’t felt in a very long time. Relationships have never worked out well for Wes and he knows that it would be no different with Nat. Their relationship is full of lots of tension, witty banter, and some really sweet moments. I loved watching their romance develop through the pages, it was done perfectly. I am really looking forward to getting to know more about Wes and his story in the next book.

This was a really fun read for me. Once I picked it up, I had a hard time putting it down. There was great action and a very intriguing plot line. The setting was post apocalyptic but it had a magical touch to it as well. I loved the cast of characters in this book. There were a lot of secondary characters that I didn’t mention that played a very important part to the story as well, and I am looking forward to seeing more of them in the sequel. The writing was very captivating and the book flowed perfectly. There really wasn’t anything that I didn’t love about this book. The ending left you satisfied but still wanting a lot more. This was a very good read for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of YA books.

Notable Scene:

Nat didn’t know what to make of Ryan Wesson–whether she wanted to slap him or kiss him. Slap him, definitely. He looked so smug, standing at her doorway, with his hair slicked back and his collar turned up, a gun belt strapped low on his hips, his beat-up vest shrugged off his shoulders like some kind of snow cowboy, grinning as if he’d won the fireball lottery.

She’d just left the casino that evening, only a few hours after closing the deal with Shakes, and while she had impressed upon him her need to leave immediately, she was still surprised at how quickly Wes had appeared.

“Hey there, remember me?” His voice was low and pleasantly hoarse, sexy, she thought, just like all the rest of him. Nat shoved the thought out of her mind. He’s a runner and a con man, she reminded herself. A liar.

“How could I forget?” she asked.

“Ryan Wesson,” he said, offering a hand.

“Like the gun or the cooking oil?”

His grin broadened. “What about you, Nat? Like the insect or the princess?”

FTC Advisory: Putnam Juvenile/Penguin provided me with a copy of Frozen. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

I got a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. To be honest I haven’t enjoyed De La Cruz’s more recent endeavors (I thought the last few Blue Bloods novels were awful and didn’t like her Witches of East End series that much either), so I was reluctant to read this book. Imagine my surprise when I absolutely loved it. The world is incredibly creative and imaginative, the characters likable and engaging, and the story absolutely gripping.

Nat is one of the show more Marked. Despite this she has been able to hide her Marked status and is making a living as a blackjack dealer in New Vegas. Even with all the world under a layer of ice, New Vegas is very much the city of chance and sin it’s always been. But Nat has a voice that won’t leave her alone and this voice is telling her to leave New Vegas in search of the Blue. The Blue is a supposed paradise that many go seeking but few find. When Nat finds Wes and his ragtag group of runners they seem like the perfect people for the job of helping her make the trip...at least that is what Nat hopes.

I absolutely loved the idea behind this ice laden future Earth and the magical creatures that inhabit it. This book is equal parts fantasy/adventure/post-apocalyptic/dystopia.

The Marked are people who have strange powers, but they are also people who are touched by Fey blood or Fey themselves. I love that for some reason the advent of plummeting temperatures on Earth has somehow awakened the Fey and drew them back to humanity. It makes for some interesting background story and for some interesting and unexpected encounters as far as creative creatures and races go.

Nat is an excellent heroine. She has such a mysterious past and is fairly savvy. She is an interesting blend of innocence (because she can’t remember a lot of her past actions) and deadliness (because of her Marked powers). She’s not naive but she wants to trust people. It makes her an fun character to read about.

Wes is the main male lead. He is noble to the point I wanted to smack him at times. Still, it makes for an interesting dynamic. He lives in a world that is so cut-throat, yet he is constantly trying to see the best in people. Still, there were a number of times he made very poor decisions as a leader that put the rest of the group in horrible danger. Let’s just say he keeps things interesting.

The world here is incredibly creative and we are just starting to learn the complex background behind it. Everything is set up here and small bits of the complex world are discovered but there is so much more here for us to learn about as readers.

The plot is well done but this is definitely just the start of a much larger series. You have one small plot point tied up in this book, but there are many more questions than answers. So, just know that this book doesn’t really resolve much at all.

I only have one complaint about this book and that is that there are two parts where Nat makes these mental leaps that totally don’t make sense. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, but they are realizations that really drive the story line and they pretty much come out of the blue. I felt the authors could have lead up to this a bit better or at least foreshadowed a bit. As the book is written I have no idea why Nat makes the huge conclusions she makes from what she has experienced.

Overall a fantastic read. It is a post-apocalyptic book but this book also has a ton of adventure and fantasy in it. I really enjoyed the complex world, the fantastic types of races we meet, and the interesting characters. It is just a really unique read that blends interesting elements in a way I have never read before. Recommended to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic fantasy with a heavy does of traditional fantasy and adventure in it. show less

Wow. I could stop right there... but I won't. This is a FANTASTIC read! I haven't yet read any of de la Cruz's other work, the author of the Blue Bloods series among others. I am not sure what I was waiting for?! This is co-authored by her husband, who has, unknown to the world, collaborated on previous works with his wife.

The world as we know it has ended, covering the Earth with ice and changing society right along with it. The world building in this book was amazing, almost but not quite show more unrecognizable from our own. Most of the book takes place in New Vegas, the post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. California and New York have been wiped off the map, as has much of the RSA... the Remaining States of America. Everything has changed, from society to agriculture to the military to everyday life. Along with all the changes are the emergence of new forms of humanoid life. And we all know that human beings do not always react well to that which is different.

This book was thoroughly engrossing, from being drawn into the world and drawn to the characters. Nat is mysterious, but strong, brave, and intelligent. Wes is tough, loyal, and smart... the perfect foil for Nat. Each of the members of Wes' team, although generally supporting characters, had a story of their own and illicited feeling, whether affectionate or not. It was hard sometimes to remember that this is a YA novel. For example, Wes is only 16 and already a veteran of the army and a man responsible for his team, some of whom are as young as 13 or 14. One of his enemies is only 19, but there is a mental image of a man much younger than that. They are all cast into adult roles far earlier than they would be in our own society, with the new world having a much shorter life span than our own. It is in those moments that you are reminded of their ages that the stark reality of the world of Frozen is really driven home.

The world in this book is reflective our own, a world that has been smashed, abused, and changed by the government, the military, religion, humanity, and science to create a new world and society, with ambivalent results. There are messages in this book. Messages on the state and values of society, on the capacity for human cruelty in the face of adversity, and messages, too, on the capacity for kindness in the face of adversity. There was a part that I loved, one that clearly delineated the difference between our society and that of the post-apocalyptic Frozen world:

"While they ate, Nat told them that back before the floods, fat was a sign of poverty, and the rich flashed their status by going on extreme diets - juice "cleanses" and spa vacations where they paid for the privilege of not eating. None of them believed her."

Things to love about Frozen...

--The characters. Whether you loved them, hated them, felt sorry for them, or were annoyed by them, they were each fascinating people with their own histories and stories.
--The world. There isn't much to love about this world in reality, but it was so well written that you lived there, too, and were a part of the story.

Things I wanted more of...

--Shakes. I loved him, his loyalty, his courage.
--The Slaine brothers. They seemed so different from each other and I wanted to know more about them.

My recommendation: A fantastic read that you should plan for... you will need a block of time because you won't be able to put it down! show less