[MINI REVIEWS] the Neal Shusterman Edition

title: Everlost (Skinjacker #1)
author: Neal Shusterman
genre: young adult, paranormal
published: November 6, 2007 by Simon Pulse (first published October 1, 2006)
my copy: massmarket paperback, 384 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. 

When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home. But Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost. 

In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

Everlost follows Nick and Allie after their unfortunate car crash and untimely death which brought them to ‘Everlost’. A place where children and young adults go after their death.

Like all Neal Shusterman novels, what I like most about this is its characters. I like how they grow throughout the novel. Allie is this girl who thinks she knows what she truly wants and Nick is the follow-the-leader type of guy. However, throughout the novel, the two of the grow as they explore the world of Everlost and learn the rules of the world. The ending was very satisfying. While it did left a room for a sequel it really works as a standalone. It’s recommended for middle grade and young adult readers who enjoy adventures, great character development, and overall very well explored fantasy world. I’m really excited to read the next book soon.

title: Dry
author: Neal Shusterman; Jarrod Shusterman
genre: young adult, dystopia
published: October 2, 2018 by Simon & Schuster BfYR
my copy: hardcover, 390 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. 

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers. 

Until the taps run dry. 

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Dry is an extremely hyped Neal Shusterman novel that deals with the timely issue of drought, the effect of this to a community, the immediate reaction of the masses, and the action of the government. Surprisingly as well, a month or so after reading this novel, something quite similar to the crisis here happened to my place which is scary, tbh. not as scary but hey, water crisis is still scary. It gave me a reality check of how scary this actually is.

Writing-wise, it heavily reminded me of Unwind because of how the characters and written and how the issue just sits there and lets me, as the reader, think of the issue and how real it may seem for me. It’s really an adventure right from the start and I like how Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman presented the characters and how they react to certain situations. There’s a strong fighting spirit for all the characters and all of them have their own ways of doing it from Alyssa who’d literally do anything for her brother to Kelton who heavily relies on his learnt survival knowledge and resources to Jacqui who uses her tough character/personality to be able to survive each situation thrown upon her, and to Henry who relies on his bargaining abilities

Dry is a very well written book that’s worth the hype. If you’re new to Neal Shusterman's books, I’d say go pick this up. It’s impactful and very engaging. The adventure is intense and the characters are well-written. Highly recommended.

title: Tesla's Attic (The Accelerati Trilogy #1)
author: Neal Shusterman; Eric Elfman
genre: middle grade, science fiction
published: February 11, 2014 by Disney-Hyperion
my copy: hardcover, 256 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Tesla's Attic is the first book in a brilliantly imagined and hilariously written trilogy that combines science, magic, intrigue, and just plain weirdness, about four kids who are caught up in a dangerous plan concocted by the eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla. 

After their home burns down, fourteen-year-old Nick, his younger brother, and their father move into a ramshackle Victorian house they've inherited. When Nick opens the door to his attic room, he's hit in the head by a toaster. That's just the beginning of his weird experiences with the old junk stored up there. After getting rid of the odd antiques in a garage sale, Nick befriends some local kids-Mitch, Caitlin, and Vincent-and they discover that all of the objects have extraordinary properties. What's more, Nick figures out that the attic is a strange magnetic vortex, which attracts all sorts of trouble. It's as if the attic itself has an intelligence . . . and a purpose. 

Ultimately Nick learns that the genius Nikola Tesla placed the items-his last inventions-in the attic as part of a larger plan that he mathematically predicted. Nick and his new friends must retrieve everything that was sold at the garage sale and keep it safe. But the task is fraught with peril-in addition to the dangers inherent in Tesla's mysterious and powerful creations, a secret society of physicists, the Accelerati, is determined to stop Nick and alter destiny to achieve its own devious ends. It's a lot for a guy to handle, especially when he'd much rather fly under the radar as the new kid in town. 

Fans of intrigue, action, humor, and nonstop surprises are guaranteed a read unlike any other in Tesla's Attic, Book One of the Accelerati Trilogy.

Tesla’s Attic is one of those books I didn't expect myself to enjoy. I don’t read much middle grade novels which is why I ended up putting this off for so long. But it was totally worth the read.
This is about Nick whose family moved to a new home and found a bunch of weird things up in their attic. He decided to sell them in a garage sale only to find out later on that all of them have something weird going on with them.

I really enjoyed reading about the peculiarities of the inventions that Nick found. I find it amusing how slowly Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman introduced each item and how their respective owners use them. I also enjoyed Nick’s quest to collect all the items in order to prevent a possible grand evil scheme to happen (or at least that’s what I’d like to believe. lol).

This proves that I will really read anything Neal Shusterman writes. I avoid middle grade books at all costs but this one really worked out well for me. It’s enjoyable and I’d really like to pick up the next book in the series (gotta search through my local bookstores for it book 2. I already found book 3 in a warehouse sale).

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