Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 4/5 stars

This was a refreshingly original dystopian. At first it seemed similar to others (in the beginning it reminded me of The Selection, Delirium, and Matched), but it quickly diverged and took its own path. I've gotten pretty good at figuring out the plots of YA novels, but this one had me guessing. Not that the plot was shocking, but it was relatively original. Rebecca is looking forward to her Acceptance ceremony and the ball that follows after she's been accepted into society. At the Acceptance ceremony, everyone goes through the Machine, which tells who will become criminals. Those people are removed from society and put in a prison camp. Of course Rebecca unexpectedly is deemed by the Machine to be a criminal. She's sent to the PIT, where the real story starts. 

There's some romance, but it's not quite the focus of the book the way I expected it would be. And the ending!! Ugh! Such a cliffhanger! I wanted to read the next book anyway, but now I can't wait!

Anomaly by Tonya Kuper

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 3/5 stars

This book had a unique, interesting premise. It's hard to find an original paranormal book anymore. Well, the paranormal ability is rather unique, but the plot isn't so much. It's not bad at all, but it follows the typical plot of random girl finds out she has special powers and that omg, she's like the best at the special powers and now she has to save everyone! 

Cute love interest, but nothing super swoon-worthy. This book is told mostly from Josie's POV, but also occasionally from Reid's POV. I think it would have been better if it had been all from Josie's POV. Reid is sweet, but his narrative doesn't add a whole lot.

The most annoying thing about this book for me is how Josie's nerdiness is played up so much. 

It had to be what it felt like to be zapped by Loki's specter.

My rib cage rattled as if my heard was demonstrating Newton's Law of Inertia.

My chest hurt, like the Hulk had my torso in a death squeeze.

And I latched onto that one morsel of good news like Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.

So I'd hopped in my car, my personal version of an X-wing, like when Anakin first embarked on his new life to train as a Jedi.

The weight of obligation settled on my shoulders with the force of a landing Y-wing.

All of this, only halfway through the book!! And don't even get me started on the number of times she says "thank Thor" or "by the USS Enterprise" or "dear Star Lord" or "thank the moon of Endor" or -- okay, I need to stop there before I end up rating this any lower. I get it, she's a geek. I'm a geek and I do not talk like this. I know lots and lots of geeks (it's pretty much a requirement for being my friend) and I don't know anyone who talks like this. It's just annoying. Once I was able to ignore that, this was an enjoyable book.